01/31/98 – Monkeywrench Radio: Seattle, WA [235m]audience: millions?set 1: Do the Evolution, Given to Fly, Pilate, Wish Listset 2: Brain of J, In Hiding, Spin the Black Circleset 3: Nothingmannotes:This radio broadcast originated from Seattle and was relayed to any radio stations wanting to carry it. This show consisted, not only of the three live PJ sets listed above, but also other live band performances (Zeke, Mudhoney, Tuatara, Brad), chat with friends, phone calls and a few records, very much like the previous Self-Pollution radio broadcast. Very cool way to premier ‘In Hiding’ [thanks!!!]. This show was and included many cybercasts. Some stations dropped the show during Matt Lukin’s phone message; others dropped out toward the end.Monkeywrench Radio link

02/03/98 – Yield is released

02/20/98 – Alexander M. Baldwin Amphitheatre: Maui, HI [96m]attendance: 5,000support act: Mudhoneysoundcheck: Long Road, Off He Goes, Red Mosquito, Corduroy, Wishlist, MFC, Oceans, Jeremy, Aliveset: Corduroy, Hail Hail, Brain of J, Faithfull, Red Mosquito, Wishlist, Even Flow, MFC, Improv(?)/Habit, Better Man, Jeremy, Given to Fly, Daughter, Black, In Hiding, Do the Evolution, Last Exitenc: Once, Smile, Yellow Ledbetternotes: An awful pit and not the best crowd either, going wild with ‘Corduroy’ as the unusual opener, and breaking the barrier during ‘Red Mosquito.’ Ed asks the crowd to step back and references the (ineffective) “Mariah Carey barricade.” ‘Wishlist’ includes modified lyrics: “I wish I was a 40-foot wave, breaking off the north shore.” Ed smashes down his microphone and stand at one point, seemingly annoyed that he was flubbing lyrics. After the band huddles around Jack, Ed comments that he “… just wanted tonight to be perfect …”, applauds the crowd and they launch into ‘Do the Evolution.’ Mike is awesome, giving a fantastic solo during ‘Even Flow’ and bringing out the flying-V Gibson during ‘Evolution’ and ‘Last Exit.’ ‘In Hiding’ is wonderful live (wow!) and the brief lead-in (new song, improv or whatever?) features a rocking tune. (Partial lyrics: “Came here with no bags, don’t need nothing, don’t need no clothes, I don’t need sunblock on my nose.”) A SUPER encore, with ‘Once’ as an always pleasing surprise, followed by instrument switching (and Jeff’s nice solo) during ‘Smile.’ A 10pm curfew resulted in a too soon end to the show front and back of t-shirttour poster

02/21/98 – Alexander M. Baldwin Amphitheatre: Maui, HI [100m]attendance: 5,000support act: Mudhoneyset: Do the Evolution, Animal, Hail Hail, Brain of J, Dissident, Faithfull, In My Tree, Wishlist, Off He Goes, Corduroy, Given to Fly, Even Flow, Daughter/(Noise of Carpet), MFC, Lukin, Immortality, Aliveenc: I Got Shit, Better Man/(Save it for Later), Around the Bend, State of Love and Trustnotes: The crowd tonight is more “friendly” moshy, and the band is totally into it and so is the crowd. From the slamming version of ‘DTE’ leading to ‘Animal’ to the final, awesome ‘State’ (I was holding on for dear life when they played this!), this show is perfection. Eddie is in a “great, great” mode and Mike is totally out of control, his eyes closed and face turned upward during ‘In My Tree.’ Jeff plays part of the show without a hat (*gasp!*) when it is blown off by the wind. Oh and Eddie gave Caryn his pick from the stage.front and back of t-shirttour poster

02/26/98 – Queen’s Wharf Events Center: Wellington, NZattendance: 5,000support act: Shudder to Thinksoundcheck: Hail Hail, Elderly Woman, Off He Goes, Faithfull, Who You Are, In Hiding, Long Road, Pilate, Go, Mankindset: Long Road, Brain of J, Do the Evolution, Animal, Dissident, Faithfull, Even Flow, Corduroy, Lukin, Wishlist, Given to Fly, Hail Hail, In Hiding, Jeremy, Daughter, MFC, Immortality, Aliveenc: Who You Are, Once, Last Exit, Better Man, Yellow Ledbetternotes: The familiar tribal drums (from ‘The Color Red’ song) lead into the show’s opening. Ed introduces ‘Faithfull’ as a song off their new album, “Give Way” (which is what yield signs are referenced as in New Zealand and Australia), and says it is about his relationship with his surfboard. Ed’s chat about ‘Lukin’ includes how he loves drinking NZ’s Steinlager beer with Matt Lukin. ‘Daughter’ is dedicated to a NZ girl who had written a letter about how she was a big fan but couldn’t attend the shows because of her parents. Jack is enthusiastically applauded after his excellent drumming effort at the jamming end of ‘Immortality.’ Ed rides a skateboard onstage when returning for the encore and the band steps to the sidelines for Mike’s ‘Yellow Ledbetter’ solo.tour poster

02/28/98 – Ericsson Stadium: Auckland, NZattendance: 20,000support act: Shudder to Thinksoundcheck: Sometimes, Not for You, All Those Yesterdays (!), Tremor Christ, In My Tree, Habit, Given to Fly (?)set: Sometimes, Hail Hail, Brain of J, Animal, Faithfull, Even Flow, I Got Shit, Wishlist, Corduroy, Jeremy, Daughter/(I Hope I Never), MFC, Habit, Given to Fly, State of Love and Trust, Off He Goes, Black, Aliveenc: Do The Evolution, Better Man, Yellow Ledbetternotes: The tribal drums lead to the show opener, and Ed stops to check on the hectic crowd a couple of times, coaching “Okay, for all you moshpit virgins out there, if someone falls, you pick ‘em up.” He strums the first few bars of ‘I Got You,’ stopping and leading into ‘I Got Shit.’ The ‘Daughter’ outro includes a bit of ‘I Hope I Never,’ a Split Enz tune. ‘Habit’ features a new start … something like, “I stayed up all night, smoked cigarettes. I have nothing to regret,” and Ed adds “speaking as someone who has experienced both North and South Piha” (Piha is a beach). As Mike is ending the ‘Alive’ solo, Ed climbs high on the scaffolding and waving to the crowd. He recalls how he nearly drowned on his last New Zealand trip and now wears a lifejacket when surfing. (In fact, he donned the yellow lifejacket that Stone handed him onstage.) A flawless, extended ‘Yellow Ledbetter’ end this near perfect show.tour poster

03/02/98 – Melbourne Park: Melbourne, Australia [110m]support act: Shudder to Thinkset: Long Road, Do the Evolution, Animal, Hail Hail, Dissident, Even Flow, Faithful, MFC, Corduroy, Wishlist, Jeremy, Daughter/(Trouble), Given to Fly, Last Exit, Off He Goes, Rearviewmirror, Not for You, Black, Aliveenc 1: Brain of J, Better Man, Smileenc 2: Rockin’ in the Free Worldnotes: A crowd pleasing setlist with stagediving occurring during ‘Corduroy’ and ‘Jeremy’ (uncommon in Australia now). The lead singer from Shudder to Think helps out on the “hallelujah” vocals on ‘Do the Evolution.’ Problems with the ‘Wishlist’ lyrics seemingly continue to plague Ed. During ‘Alive,’ with the audience singing rather than Ed, he pulls a fan onstage from the intense pit. Ed dances with the fan, gives him what appears to be his stage pass (or a pick?), the fan thanks the whole band (including a kiss to Mike’s cheek) and pushes the stage pass into the face of the security people before heading off stage. The ‘RitFW’ encore is prefaced by Ed saying that they won’t do another song until everyone raises their middle fingers on the count of three and shouts “Shudder to Think” in their “perfect Aussie diction.” (Apparently this was done as a reference to openers, Shudder to Think, who encourage the crowd to do this.)promo postertour poster

03/03/98 – Melbourne Park: Melbourne, Australia [97m]support act: Shudder to Thinkset: Sometimes, Last Exit, Brain of J, Faithfull, Animal, Red Mosquito, Corduroy, Wishlist, Once, Jeremy, Daughter (false start), Given to Fly, Daughter/(Another Brick in the Wall), Trouble, Better Man, MFC, ?, Habit, Even Flow, Do the Evolutionenc: Hail Hail, State of Love and Trust, Black, Alivenotes: PJ is in a great space — relaxed, looking like they are enjoying being there with great interplay with each other. Jeff is laid back and not jumping or bouncing around a lot, but concentrating on the music all night. Ed’s voice is good, he seems happy and talks with the crowd and hands out various items up front quite a lot. Mike again is on fire all night, awesome beyond words. He is amazing on ‘Corduroy,’ the show highlight, with Ed doing Pete Townshend jumps and playing guitar on the floor (!). (“That’s quite nice actually … laying on the floor in front of your amp.”) Stone begins a (false) start to ‘Daughter’ (Jeff has the wrong bass!), followed by Ed making an aside that Jeff, Stone and Mike are going to use the “paper, scissors, rock” method to decide what to play next; they do, much to everyone’s amusement, and Ed then says, “Michael won … we’re gonna play his one first” leading to ‘GTF.’ After ‘Daughter,’ Ed notes, “Good singing!” Smitty brings out a stool for Ed, and he is spotlighted in the darkened venue. It looks amazing and he says, “Darth Vader would say, ‘Impressive!’” This leads to Ed’s lovely solo of ‘Trouble,’ a Cat Stevens ballad. A new(?) song is played with lyrics along the lines of “people try to settle me down, try to tell me what to do … my good friend, get outta my room,” that leads to ‘Habit.’ Someone jumps on stage during ‘Black’ to touch/shake hands and Ed speaks briefly with the fan before continuing. ‘Alive’ is a pleaser, complete with Ed throwing the microphone around like a lasso, a la Roger Daltrey.tour poster

03/05/98 – Melbourne Park: Melbourne, Australia [120m]support act: Shudder to Thinkset: Release, Brain of J, Animal, Faithfull, In My Tree, I Got Shit, Corduroy, Wishlist, Even Flow, Spin the Black Circle, Daughter/(Pebbles), Given to Fly, Hail Hail, MFC, (Crazy Mary!)/, Elderly Woman, Off He Goes, State of Love and Trust, Do the Evolution, Aliveenc 1: Go, Black, Rearviewmirror, Immortalityenc 2: Indifference, Porchnotes: The show was broadcast on the radio throughout Australia, and on the internet in real time on JJJ. As is typically the case, the shows get better on second or third nights, and PJ’s third show in Melbourne is tremendous. Ed slips in a tribute to the late Michael Hutchence (of INXS) during ‘In My Tree’ (“I’m so high I hold just one breath, give it to INXS, just like my innocence”). Some guitar chords from Midnight Oil’s ‘Beds are Burning’ lead to a wonderful version of ‘Corduroy,’ which includes the little stop/start thing during the bridge towards the end. Ed’s wonderful baritone comes through on ‘Wishlist’ and the “Camaro” line is changed to “I wish I was the full moon shining off your bulldozer’s hood,” plus “I wish I was the sound, of 50 million hands upraised for Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan,” and “I wish I was lucky man … well I guess that I am … I wish I could share with my friends, oh how many things that I have.” ‘Even Flow’ again awesome, featuring really extended soloing from Mike; very prolific and a manic version of ‘StBC’ (dedicated to “… all those who work at Triple J and the guys who work at PBS”). The ‘Daughter’ outtro/improv (“poor little girl screaming traffic in her hair …”) is a Shudder to Think song titled ‘Pebbles.’ A couple of verses from ‘Crazy Mary’ lead to ‘Elderly Woman.’ ‘Porch’ leads off as the slower version (like Bridge ’96), but later speeds into the more familiar, rocked out version.tour poster

03/07/98 – Thebarton Oval: Adelaide, Australia [110m]attendance: 21,000support act: Shudder to Thinkset: MFC, Brain of J, Hail Hail, Animal, Do the Evolution, Dissident, Jeremy, Corduroy, Wishlist, Lukin, I Got Shit, Even Flow, Daughter/(brief Hunger Strike), Given to Fly, (Improv)/Habit, Elderly Woman, Nothingman (!), State of Love and Trust, Aliveenc 1: Go, Once, Better Man/(Save it for Later), Last Exitenc 2: Yellow Ledbetternotes: A splendid outdoor show, Ed drinking Coopers, a South Australian beer Throughout the show. Kicking versions of ‘Do the Evolution,’ ‘Even Flow’ and ‘I Got Shit.’ A cool ‘Daughter’ tag, singing, ” I don’t, I don’t, I don’t, I don’t, I don’t, I don’t, mind stealing bread from the mouths of decadence …” Just before ‘Habit,’ Ed starts singing “Lemonade … Powerade … Adelaide,” and everyone cheers. After ‘Habit,’ Ed has a very tongue-in-cheek chat about Oasis: “So I just wanna state for the record that … ah … I don’t know if I’m speaking for everybody but … we love Liam Gallager. I mean honestly … I’ll tell you what. I was walking around last night and I ended up playing pool with a couple of you, you’re out there I know. Had a great time … had quite few of those things–Coopers (or) whatever they are–Onya, mate! And it was just going great. I was making friends left and right … then I was getting free beer, it was just quite a night. But then some asshole asked me for ah to take a picture … and I just headbutted the fucker right in the head … and it felt fucking great GREAT. It was awesome … I tell ya … it’s pretty cool this rock star thing … I like it a lot.” (Liam had recently been charged with headbutting a fan in Brisbane after the fan asked for a photo.) ‘Nothingman’ is a surprise, with Ed introducing it saying, “OK, we’re gonna try one that I don’t think we’ve tried yet on tour, so we’ll see what happens … you got the ears for it I think.” Before the second encore Ed comes out by himself and starts playing the drums. A cool lead-in to ‘Last Exit’ by Ed: “… you guys have been tough. I know because I … we’ve all been there, and it’s not easy to be in a crowd like this … and for you to go through this and be so good to one other and everyone has survived, and to listen to our music. It’s something we will take back with us … in our suit cases and various bags. You know when we first started the moon was right there. Now it’s over there. It’s good to know the world is still turning regardless of what us fucked up humans are doing to it. But tonight is an example of something good so anyways, thanks for sharing it with us and being part of it … it really makes us feel good … this is our Last Exit.” Again, everyone gives Mike the stage during his ‘Yellow Ledbetter’ solo. At the conclusion, Ed says, “All right, I’m buying drinks for everybody … see ya at the pub!” A great show, with PJ’s general level of merriment, happiness, interaction and musicianship. Still just a handful of Yield tunes on the setlist.tour poster

03/09/98 – Entertainment Centre: Sydney, Australia [90m]attendance: 12,000support act: Shudder to Thinksoundcheck: Who You Are, Pilate, In Hiding, ?, Leaving Here, Mankind, Footsteps, Dead Manset: Long Road, Hail Hail, Brain of J, Do the Evolution, Faithfull, Interstellar Overdrive, Corduroy, Wishlist, MFC, Even Flow, Animal, Daughter/(ABitW), Given to Fly, Jeremy, Dead Man!, Better Man, Rearviewmirrorenc: Happy Birthday, Who You Are, Go, Once, Leaving Herenotes: A show full of surprises! With Jeff’s birthday tomorrow, Ed picks up a banner from the crowd which reads: “Happy Birthday Jeff,” which Jeff wears like a cape while seated mid-stage. A member of the road crew brings out a cake and Ed leads the crowd in singing ‘Happy Birthday.’ Ed throws the cake (cream pie) straight in Jeff’s face! Jeff throws it back into Ed’s, Ed to Mike’s and Stone’s, and then Jack stuffs the pie into his own face ! Lastly, Ed takes a shot at one of the members of the audience who is riding on someone’s shoulders and HITS HIM IN THE FACE with the crowd roaring in amazement!! Other notes …
After ‘Jeremy,’ Ed sits down on a chair and begins talking about how during one of the notes (in ‘Jeremy’), he kind of “blacks out” for a second: “You know, when you hold your breath until you think you’re going to pass out .. then you keep holding it.” He finishes by saying that then he woke up “with a bunch of guys in Sydney …” getting a big roar from the crowd. Later, “… now, we’re gonna do something that’s gonna set this show apart from all the others. This song is the b-side from ‘Off He Goes’ (not-as-big-as-before roar) and it’s called ‘Dead Man’ …” The whole stage is dark, except for a little light around where Ed is seated. During the quiet interlude in ‘RVM’ Ed tells the band to keep playing while everyone holds their breath; … “1 … 2 … 3!” The whole place stands there for as long as they could holding their breath, with Ed standing dead still for the longest time with a blue light shining on him.tour poster

03/11/98 – Entertainment Centre: Sydney, Australia [102m]attendance: 12,000support act: Shudder to Thinkset: Oceans, Last Exit, Brain of J, Hail Hail, In Hiding, Do the Evolution, Corduroy, Wishlist, MFC, Daughter/(Push Me Pull Me improv!!!), Even Flow, Mankind, Elderly Woman, Lukin, Not for You, Black, Porchenc: Given to Fly, Better Man, Immortality, Smile, Rockin’ in the Free Worldnotes: An incredibly fast version of ‘Hail Hail’ with Stone commenting, “Good, God – that was fast!” ‘In Hiding’ finally returns to a setlist (yea!) and a ‘Push Me Pull Me’ improv for a ‘Daughter’ outro?! ‘Mankind’ finally surfaces (Stone’s Australian singing debut, with PJ anyway). When the crowd cheers at the end, he cracks, “They love me … they really love me!” At the end of ‘Porch,’ Ed reaches out to the pit and pulls a guy on stage. He lifts Ed up on his shoulders and spins him around and around. Ed proceeds to do the same to this fellow! Jack shines during his great drum solo at the end of ‘Immortality.’ At the end of ‘Smile,’ Ed gives his harmonica to former world champion surfer and local Sydney resident, Tom Carroll, who is watching at side stage. Ed says near show’s end that they have to stop as he has to get up early to surf the next day. Some great guitar solos by Stone at this show.tour poster

03/12/98 – Entertainment Centre: Sydney, Australia [112m]attendance: 12,000support act: Shudder to Thinkset: Sometimes, Do the Evolution, Animal, Hail Hail, Dissident, Faithfull, Even Flow, (The Real Me)/I Got Shit, Corduroy, MFC, (Improv)/Habit, Daughter/(Candle in the Wind)/(WMA), Nothingman, Given to Fly, Spin the Black Circle, Sin City jam, Wishlist, Whipping, Rearviewmirrorenc 1: Go, State of Love and Trust, Brain of J, Better Man/(Save it for Later)enc 2: Throw Your Arms Around Me, Alivenotes: PJ’s final Sydney appearance, a full moon … what would you expect other than a great show, incredible setlist and awesome encore?? The crowd is really into the show and PJ really looking like they are having a good time. The guys all come out wearing wigs; Ed with a big, blonde one. (He says that they all got their hair done at the hotel salon and got a “5-for-1 deal …” in the same place as Elton, referring to Elton John being in the country with Billy Joel.) One line from ‘The Real Me’ is a lead-in to ‘I Got Shit.’ After ‘I Got Shit,’ they lose the wigs. The ‘Habit’ intro is a little “birthday to Beth” improv and ‘Habit’ rips. ‘Candle in the Wind’!. During ‘GTF,’ Ed leaves the mic during the bridge and does a cool pirouette with the crowd roaring in appreciation. He shows his dancing prowess again during ‘StBC.’ He says, “Go ahead and play somebody; I’ll catch my breath first …” and the band plays a cool little jam on ‘Sin City’ (old AC/CD song). Before ‘RVM,’ Ed says, “We pack really light … but we’re all taking home little suitcases of memories after this stay here in Australia.” A stunning version of ‘Throw Your Arms Around Me’ (a Hunters and Collectors tune that PJ very rarely covers) is performed by Ed alone at the top of the second encore, prefaced with his comment: “This one is just between you and me.” The guys join Ed for a fantastic ‘Alive,’ with the house lights up and PJ simply GOING for it. Wow!!!tour poster

03/14/98 – Entertainment Centre: Brisbane, Australia [120m]attendance: 15,000support act: Shudder to Thinkset: Release, Hail Hail, Animal, Do the Evolution, Faithfull, Wishlist, Corduroy, In My Tree, Alive, Nothingman, Brain of J, Given to Fly, Daughter, MFC, (I’m Open)/I Got Shit, Immortality, Black, Even Flow, Porchenc: Footsteps, Leaving Here, Better Man/(Save it for Later), Spin the Black Circle, Rockin’ in the Free Worldnotes: Extremely tight security makes taping difficult. An incredible show with the band in spectacular form. The crowd in the front begins “surfing” the chairs in the seated area back over their heads. Ed tells how he was sitting under a tree in Brisbane’s Botanical Gardens watching the full moon (the night before) and heard a strange noise, that he had practiced the sound, and takes a mouthful of water and gurgles out a noise, coughs and says something like, “I hear they are native around here.” (This may have been a possum noise and we’ve heard other speculations.) At the end of ‘Daughter’ when Ed can’t seem to think of what to say, he proceeds to lead the crowd in a chant, answer/response style. Even Flow is a big highlight, with Mike’s outstanding solo (being rather detached the rest of the night) while Ed goes to the back of the stage and starts breakdancing! Ed brings someone on stage (a crowd member?) to play Mike’s part on ‘Leaving Here,’ with Ed ending the song with a Townshend jump, quickly following with ‘Better Man.’ Ed drinks and then tips beer on the crowd during ‘RitFW.’tour poster

03/15/98 – Entertainment Centre: Brisbane, Australia [116m]attendance: 15,000support act: Shudder to Thinkset: Long Road, Go, Do the Evolution, Brain of J, In Hiding, Alive, Last Exit, Wishlist, Corduroy, MFC, Nothingman, Even Flow, Jeremy, Given to Fly, Throw Your Arms Around Me, Off He Goes, (Improv)/Habit, Rearviewmirrorenc 1: Mankind, Hail Hail, Not for You, Better Man, Bloodenc 2: Indifference, Rockin’ in the Free Worldnotes: Ed beautifully sings ‘Throw Your Arms Around Me’ for Beth, saying it is the best song written in Australia. The ‘Habit’ bit is sung as “speakin’ as speakin’ as speakin’ as ME!” Stone goes off absolutely 100%, having a great time (along with the crowd) on ‘Mankind.’ ‘RitFW’ is a highlight, with Jeff bouncing from side to the other and someone getting on stage and playing Ed’s guitar. The band seems in a very partying mood. Ed says that it feels like they are going to another part of the world (going to Perth) and that he would miss the Brisbane crowd. Rob Machado (San Diego surfer and musician) helps out on ‘RitFW.’tour poster

03/19/98 – Perth Entertainment Centre: Perth, Australia [110m]attendance: 5,000support act: Shudder to Thinksoundcheck: Animal, Rearviewmirror, Hail Hail, Baba O’Riley, Yellow Ledbetterset: Sometimes, Do the Evolution, Animal, Hail Hail, Dissident, Faithfull, Even Flow, I Got Shit, Corduroy, MFC, (intro)/Habit, Daughter/(improv), Nothingman, Given to Fly, Leatherman!, Rearviewmirror, Wishlistenc: Once, Alive, Better Man, Immortality, Black, Baba O’Rileynotes: This “command” performance does not disappoint! During Shudder to Think’s set, Ed takes the stage wearing a mask and helps out singing a bit (“Where did mum go? …”). After ‘DTE,’ Ed congratulates Perth on having the initiative to pull together a petition (14,000 signatures were collected to get PJ to play Perth!) and he says, “With a positive attitude, you can do anything.” The ‘Habit’ “speaking as a …” segment is sung with a few line from Cat Stevens’ ‘If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out.’ The ‘Daughter’ outro was a repeated line, “I feel it; I feel it …” with Ed saying at the end, “Well, I do!” (Was this possibly the Bad Radio song ‘Believe You Me?’) During ‘Alive,’ Ed pulls someone from the crowd and does a ballroom dance and then spins him (similar to Melbourne). ‘Leatherman’ is played for the first time, at the request of a fan who had spoken with Stone before the show and then took a sign to the show, which Ed spots. He says, “… we haven’t ever played this song, and we’re probably never going to again, so here goes.” Excellent!

03/20/98 – Perth Entertainment Centre: Perth, Australia [112m]attendance: 5,000support act: Shudder to Thinkset: Long Road, Brain of J, Last Exit, Animal, Pilate, Lukin, Corduroy, In My Tree/(Magic Bus), Wishlist, Do the Evolution, Jeremy, Hail Hail, Daughter/(Pebbles), Off He Goes, Elderly Woman, Hunger Strike, Not For You, Faithfull, Aliveenc 1: Given to Fly, Go, State of Love and Trust, Smile, Even Flowenc 2: I am a Patriot, Better Man, Yellow Ledbetternotes: ‘Pilate’ is played live for the first time (aside from Monkeywrench or soundchecks). The short ‘Magic Bus’ is a surprise. ‘Patriot’ is played solo by Ed.

03/29/98 – Shrine Auditorium: Los Angeles, CA (“Not In Our Name” – Dead Man Walking: The Concert) Ed and Jeff onlyset: Trouble (Ed solo), Dead Man, Long Road, Face of Loveenc: Innocent When You Dream (whole ensemble including Ani DiFranco, Steve Earle, Tom Waits, Tim Robbins and others)
This show was a an anti-death penalty benefit for Murder Victims’ Families For Reconciliation and Hope House. Ed and Jeff are the final act. The Ani DiFranco fans in the balcony are yelling “Eddie Vedder sucks,” but when Ed takes the stage, the crowd starts applauding and he says, “I thought you said I suck.” Seated on cushions on the floor with an acoustic guitar, Ed performs Cat Stevens ‘Trouble’ solo. Jeff joins Ed, playing his electric stand-up bass with a bow during ‘Dead Man.’ Ed explains how he wrote the song after talking with Tim Robbins and later told him how he wrote a song called ‘Dead Man Walking’ but Tim says he already had a song with that title written by Bruce Springsteen and he has to use his because of a “seniority thing” so Ed retitled the song ‘Dead Man.’ ‘Long Road’ includes Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Dildar Hussein (percussionist) and John Densmore (drummer for The Doors). Ed and Nusrat trade verses until the chanting toward the end and they are both singing together. ‘Face of Love’ is beautiful. Both ‘Long Road’ and ‘Face of Love’ are long, extended versions. At the end, all performers return to the stage for ‘Innocent When You Dream,’ led by Tom Waits with Bonnie Raitt joining on guitar.

05/01/98 – Ed Sullivan Theater: New York, NY (Late Show appearance) [5m]set:Wishlistnotes: PJ makes their second appearance on Late Show with David Letterman and their first outing with Matt Cameron drumming. A “sweet” and carefully rehearsed “Wishlist” with Mike again sporting bleached locks and a Goodness shirt. Ed’s voice sounds wonderful and each guitarist gets a small “solo.” The song seems to fade at the end of Ed’s solo, but a drum-driven reprise wraps up the song in a different fashion.

05/07/98 – ARO.space: Seattle, WA (first show with Matt Cameron) [75m]support act: Shawn Smithset: Interstellar Overdrive, Corduroy, Do The Evolution, Brain of J, Last Exit, Given to Fly, In Hiding, Off He Goes, MFC, jam/Habit, Wishlist, Faithfull, Hail Hail, Mankind, Leatherman (!), Leaving Hereenc: Last Kiss (cover)notes: PJ makes their first full public appearance with Matt Cameron at this surprise show at the club formerly known as Moe’s (site of the Mirror Ball release party and private Neil Jam show in 1995). The band is visibly nervous until ‘Habit,’ at which point they totally kick in, laughing amongst themselves, making jokes. ‘MFC’ and ‘Habit’ are total standouts, as well as Stone’s tambourine playing during ‘Leatherman’ and Eddie’s hilarious backing vocals during ‘Mankind.’ The band leaves the stage and then Matt, Jeff and Ed return, Ed tells us a little story, displaying a Michael Jordan bong and a single. He tells us he bought the single for 99 cents the day before and stayed up all night listening to, ‘Last Kiss,’ a 50s gothic romance that was re-released and popular during the early 70s, and then proceeds to serenade us with a wonderful rendition of that song. Amazing show!
(FYI: The opening jam is none other than a shortened version of Pink Floyd’s ‘Interstellar Overdrive’

06/14/98 – RFK Stadium: Washington, DC (Tibetan Freedom Concert)attendance: 66,000set: Corduroy, Hail Hail, Brain of J, Even Flow, Given to Fly, Do the Evolution, Wishlist, Better Man/(Save It for Later)notes: Several of the bands scheduled for the first day of this large benefit show were rescheduled to this day, pushing back PJ’s scheduled start time. Toward the end of ‘Hail Hail,’ Mike is smashing his guitar onto the stage with his tech flying out of the wings to try to save it, Mike sees him coming but smashes it anyway! Ed comments, “You do know this is a nonviolent concert, don’t you?!” As he is introducing ‘Brain of J,’ someone in the crowd throws an object that knocks a drink out of Ed’s hands and onto his shirt at the end of ‘Hail Hail,’ with Ed’s cool response: “Thank you.” Before ‘Even Flow,’ there seems to be a discussion about what to play and Ed likens it to countries having troubles making decisions about issues. “This song is about me, it’s about you, it’s about everyone” is the intro to ‘Do the Evolution’ which ripped along until the middle when everyone got off rhythm for a second. Ed changes the “fortunate as me” line in ‘Wishlist’ to “fortunate as us all” and the reprise verse is tacked onto the ending. Before ‘Better Man,’ Ed rants about “this is going to be dedicated to the president, because we can’t really find a better man” and talks about how the song is similar to what is going on in Tibet as they are both about struggles between two people. A pair of gold wings adorn the top of Ed’s amp. Ed is happy and they all play well, not great, and the sound system is lacking. The set ended early after ‘Better Man,’ (“I dedicate this to the abusive relationship between us and our government … seems like no matter what we do, we’re always getting shit on.”) The ‘Save it for Later’ tag is outstanding! The Red Hot Chili Peppers take the stage unannounced using PJ’s equipment. Flea comments: “We’d like to thank Pearl Jam for letting us have a little bit of their set.”

06/20/98 – Washington-Grizzly Stadium: Missoula, MT [110m]attendance: 22,000support act: Goodnesssoundcheck: Off He Goes, Hail Hail, Faithfull, Present Tense, In Hiding, Better Man, Pilate, Yellow Ledbetter (snippet), MFC, Jeremyset: Corduroy, Animal, Hail Hail, Brain of J, In Hiding, Jeremy, Do the Evolution, Pilate, Even Flow, Daughter, (improv)/MFC, Wishlist, Present Tense, Habit, Given to Fly, Immortality, Aliveenc 1: Better Man, Black, State of Love and Trust, Onceenc 2: Yellow Ledbetternotes: Mike takes the stage and plays with Goodness before PJ’s set. The rarely played ‘Pilate’ is noted as “this song was born in Montana.” There isn’t a particular ‘Daughter’ tag, although Ed takes this opportunity to acknowledge the many fans gathered on the large M on the hill outside the stadium: “Can you hear me? If you can, stand up and jump around” and they do while the crowd inside cheers ! ‘MFC’ kicks ass!! At the start of the first encore, Ed brings a fan on stage who brought a sign requesting ‘Better Man.’ He proposes to his girlfriend on stage and the band plays ‘Better Man.’ (Isn’t that sweet??) At the start of the second encore, Jeff thanks his Mom and Dad and the promoter and Ed thanks Matt for drumming. This version of ‘Yellow Ledbetter’ is much like the version performed at last year’s Tibetan Freedom Concert. Consensus is that Mike was on and Matt excelled.poster

06/21/98 – The Canyons: Park City, UT [95m]attendance: 10,000support act: Goodnessset: Release, Hail Hail, Brain of J, Last Exit, Tremor Christ, Corduroy, MFC, Off He Goes, Alive, Given to Fly, All Those Yesterdays, Daughter, Even Flow, Footsteps, I Got Shit, Rearviewmirrorenc 1: Do the Evolution, Go, Wishlist, Better Man/(Save it for Later)enc 2: Leaving Herenotes: A very different setlist from the previous night! A few references are made to the recent Jazz/Bulls games. (“Hey, tough luck on that basketball game by the way.”) During ‘Alive,’ a fan (named Jake) throws a Utah Jazz jersey onstage. Eddie blows his nose in it and throws it back in the crowd. ‘All Those Yesterdays’ (making a live debut here) is for those at the top who are hurting each other. The ‘Daughter’ tag is once again unidentified, something about “go away little girl”. During ‘RVM,’ a roadie takes the stage in a bird mask with sunglasses. (?) Before the first encore, Eddie came out, jumps OVER the amps and then jumps on a roadie’s back. Eddie starts saying, “There are a lot of people in this town named Norman, N as in Nancy, Norman.” He then asks one roadie what his name is: “James.” He asks another one and gets another answer. “See, I don’t know, I just heard that this town was full of Normans.” (For those who may not know, Salt Lake City is where the headquarters of the Mormon religion is.) Then he says, “Dennis Rodman told me to tell you all to fuck off,” and then the band plays ‘Do The Evolution.’ During ‘Go,’ when Eddie sings, “Don’t go on me,” he turns his back on the audience and pretends to open his fly and pee! (Okay, now we KNOW he was hanging out with Rodman last night.) An awesome show with the band in very high spirits and playing incredibly well.postersetlist scan

06/23/98 – Fiddlers Green: Englewood, CO [110m]support act: Frank Blacksoundcheck: Red Mosquito, Sometimes, Dissident, Oceans, ?, Whipping, Animalset: Long Road, Corduroy, Hail Hail, Brain of J, Dissident, Given to Fly, MFC, Habit, In Hiding, Even Flow, Daughter/(Monkey Gone to Heaven), Pilate, Off He Goes, I Got Shit, Do the Evolution, Alive, Blackenc 1: Wishlist, Rearviewmirror, Better Man, Leaving Hereenc 2: I Am a Patriot (Ed solo)notes: A bad sound system makes Ed’s vocals somewhat hard to hear, but the band turns in a great performance. Ed comments on his altitude sickness the last time the band played Denver before ‘Given to Fly’: “We’re a mile high … and I might add that there is nothing wrong with being a little bit higher too!” At his vocal part in the middle of ‘Habit,’ Ed encourages the crowd to enjoy life, “… life has many detours, take them, enjoy them, but just don’t get stuck in the mud …” The ‘Daughter’ tag is a Pixies cover, ‘Monkey Gone to Heaven’ (in honor of Frank Black opening): “If man is 5, then the devil is 6, then God is 7, this monkey’s gone to heaven.” Jeff seems to enjoy ‘Pilate,’ smiling throughout. Ed leads in to ‘Alive’: Usually we just go into this song, but tonight I just want to mention something. … because there have been some difficulties in my life, with parental figures and a father in particular, and apparently I’m not terribly unique, because a lot of people like relate to these things, I thought tonight we’d sing this song in tribute to the uh, for reasons, there’s reasons which I’m not going to tell you, but hopefully this applies in your life. There are definitely good fathers out there for sure like really good fathers so uh were kind of celebrating Fathers Day a few days late.” He changes a line to say “… what you thought was your father, was really a great guy.” At the end of ‘Black,’ Ed adds “we can be much more than this.” Before ‘Wishlist,’ Ed mentions something about how the last time they played this venue was in 1992 with Soundgarden (Lollapalooza). Ed’s solo during ‘Wishlist’ had technical problems, and Jeff is hit in the eye by something thrown by a member of the audience (we won’t say fan) during ‘RVM.’ At the end of ‘Better Man,’ Ed tells the audience that he understands that everyone got charged an extra 50 cents for parking, and “that’s wrong, that’s just wrong” and comments that the band is donating $8,500 to Gateway Battered Women’s Shelter in Denver. After ‘Leaving Here,’ the band has pretty much left the stage for good, but Ed returns with a guitar, noting some fans near the front with a cardboard sign spray painted “Patriot Please.” Quoting the Rolling Stones (somewhat), he says, “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you just might find a sympathetic singer who gives a fuck.” He says he’s a sucker and that an artist who cares just might do it, he doesn’t know if he can remember the words, but he’d try, and goes into a FANTASTIC version of ‘Patriot’.poster

06/24/98 – Rushmore Civic Center Arena: Rapid City, SD [110m]attendance: 8,500support act: Frank Blacksoundcheck: Nothingman, Indifference, Pilate (2x), Present Tense, Leatherman, Last Exit, I Got You, Rich in a Ditch (Klark Kent cover)set: Do the Evolution, Animal, Last Exit, Brain of J, Given to Fly, Jeremy, Faithfull, Corduroy, MFC, Not for You, Even Flow, Daughter/ (I’ve Been Tired)/(Three Little Birds), Nothingman, Leatherman, Better Man (no we are not making this up!), Immortality, new song/improv?, Go, Aliveenc: Hail Hail, State of Love and Trust, Black, Wishlist, Rearviewmirrornotes: The band is relaxed and in good spirits, even though they all seem to experience numerous technical problems. ‘Daughter’ is graced by a Pixies cover as a tag titled, ‘I’ve Been Tired,’ which references Lou Reed:
“I wanna be a singer like Lou Reed I like Lou Reed Why don’t you tell me one of your biggest fears? Losing my penis to a whore with disease Excuse me please?!”
Before the “man” trilogy, Eddie announces, “we’re gonna do something this band has never attempted before – play three songs in a row with ‘man’ in the title!” After some chat about “cowtippers,” a new song or an improv (featuring the lyrics “corner store” and “where do we go from here?” follows ‘Immortality.’ Ed makes jokes about Mount Rushmore, the Crazy Horse monument and Bill Gates. All in all, an energetic and powerful show, along the lines of the Utah one last Sunday.poster

06/26/98 – Alpine Valley: East Troy, WI [110m]attendance: 35,000support act: Frank Blacksoundcheck: All Those Yesterdays, Leatherman, Sometimes, Tremor Christ, Red Mosquito, Off He Goes, Smile, Mankind, parts of Brain of Jset: Do the Evolution, Animal, Last Exit, Brain of J, Given to Fly, In Hiding, Corduroy, Wishlist, Lukin, Even Flow, Daughter/(Stuff and Nonsense), Dissident, MFC, Better Man, Red Mosquito, Blackenc 1: Hail Hail, Mankind, I Got Shit/(Cinnamon Girl), Rearviewmirror, Aliveenc 2: Yellow Ledbetternotes: The band is in a great mood, laughing, joking and smiling (especially Eddie). ‘Last Exit’ is botched and Ed says, “Fuck that song … let’s get to the next.” A series of technical problems are evidenced, both in Ed’s and Mike’s sound. Although ‘Leatherman’ appears on the setlist after ‘Better Man,’ it isn’t played. Ed says “hello” to his brother in the crowd before ‘Daughter.’ The ‘Stuff and Nonsense’ tag is a Split Enz tune. After destroying a tambourine, Ed tries to give it to a female show attendee but a struggle ensues and Ed says, “Give it to the girl.” (He makes sure that she gets a second one at the end of ‘Alive.’) Ed says, “Once upon a time, we made a record with Neil Young. It took about six days, and we played, but Neil did all of the singing and stuff. We wrote and Neil helped out to make a couple songs to make a single – and uh, all that proves is that in six days Neil can write 12 songs and we can only write two. This one’s called ‘I Got Shit’.” A wild ‘Alive,’ with Ed hitting himself in the mouth with the microphone, anointing the crowd with wine and proceeds to the end of a video screen and points to it as if displaying Matt. He runs back to the mic and adds an improv/tag (something about “sometime …”). The song ends with Jeff bouncing a superball off the stage which he’d been toying with earlier. Before ‘Red Mosquito,’ he notes that Alpine Valley is the last place Stevie Ray Vaughn ever played. (SRV died in a helicopter crash after the show.) ‘Yellow Ledbetter’ is also for SRV and toward the end, Mike tosses in a bit of Jimi Hendrix’ ‘Machine Gun.’ The whole band watches Mike solo with Jeff standing behind his amp stack where he’s hung a sign from the audience that says “smile.”poster

06/27/98 – Alpine Valley: East Troy, WI [115m]attendance: 35,000support act: Frank Blacksoundcheck: Faithfull, All Those Yesterdays, Brain of J (all instrumental, no vocals)set: Interstellar Overdrive, Corduroy, Hail Hail, Brain of J, Last Exit, Tremor Christ, Given to Fly, Jeremy, Faithfull, Nothingman, Improv, MFC, Habit, Off He Goes, Even Flow, Once, All Those Yesterdays, Go, Immortalityenc: Do the Evolution, Leatherman, Better Man/(jam)/(RVM), Wishlist, Alive, Smilenotes: The ‘Interstellar Overdrive’ instrumental intro is performed in the same fashion as the ARO.space show. Mike smashes his guitar after ‘Brain of J.’ Ed performs the “back and forth” dance during ‘Last Exit.’ ‘Faithfull’ is introduced as “a song about being careful with your trust.” The improv after ‘Nothingman’ is mostly Ed with Matt and Jeff playing along. Tonight’s ‘Habit’ line is “speaking as someone who’s never worn a piece of orange styrofoam on his head.” (Ed goes on to explain that the cheesehead comment wasn’t an insult and how he has a cheesehead hat at home and how he finds it “to be quite comfortable actually. Makes me look cool and I get chicks.”) ‘Better Man’ features two tags, including 2 lines from ‘RVM’ (“saw things … clearer, clearer”). Ed chats about how Dennis from The Frogs wrote a page in Ed’s journal and it became ‘Smile,’ leading to that song and a spotlight is shined on Dennis, who is side stage. Wonderful setlist and performance.poster

06/29/98 – United Center: Chicago, IL [135m]support act: Frank Blacksoundcheck: Last Exit (instrumental), Porch (2x), Hail Hail, MFC, Present Tense, Baba O’Riley (partial), Substituteset: Long Road, Do the Evolution, Brain of J, Hail Hail, Go, Dissident, Even Flow, Given to Fly, Corduroy, Rearviewmirror, In Hiding, Jeremy, Daughter/(Ray of Light)/(Another Brick in the Wall), Nothingman, MFC, Off He Goes, Present Tense, Aliveenc 1: Wishlist, Better Man/(Save it for Later), State of Love and Trust, Black, Last Exitenc 2: Baba O’Riley, Yellow Ledbetternotes: Very tight, the first half hour just BURNS, until ‘Dissident.’ ‘Corduroy’ is notable as the version appearing on the Live on Two Legs album. ‘Rearviewmirror’ has a cool jam and strobes at the climax. Ed closes a sweet ‘In Hiding’ with “that’s Stone’s song … this is Jeff’s,” leading to ‘Jeremy.” The ‘Daughter’ tag, ‘Ray of Light,’ is a Madonna song (“She’s got herself a universe, and she feels – like she just got home.”) Before playing ‘Nothingman,’ Ed states, “It’s not about anyone I know … it’s completely made up …” Before ‘Off He Goes,’ Ed takes a sip and claims he’s drinking Gatorade so that he can “be like Mike.” He talks about the places they have played in Chicago – Chicago Stadium, Soldier Field, United Center – and says, “The only one left is Wrigley Field. Of course it’ll be a day show … and we’ll play two.” Mike runs around the stage in huge circles throughout ‘Present Tense.’ When PJ returns for the encore, Matt starts drumming, and Stone sings a few lines of ‘Walkin’ on Sunshine’ by Katrina and the Waves. One of the longest, most powerful ‘Save it for Later’ tags follows ‘Better Man.’ Mike’s solo at the end of ‘Black’ is incredible. Jeff imitates Pete Townshend at the end of ‘Baba O’Riley,’ machine gunning the audience, as the place goes completely nuts! Ed tosses his red Gibson SG and smashes the headstock at the end of ‘Baba.’ Eddie wears a Bulls jersey, #3 (that says “Vedder” on the back) that he says Rodman gave him and he wasn’t there but he’d give him a tape of the show.poster

06/30/98 – Target Center: Minneapolis, MN [110m]attendance: 18,000support act: Frank Blacksoundcheck: Leatherman, Oceans, Pilate, Not for You, Leaving Here, Go (partial)set: Sometimes, Last Exit, Brain of J, Hail Hail, Faithfull, Even Flow, Corduroy, I Got Shit, Pilate, Daughter/(Noise of Carpet)/chanting, MFC, Lukin, Wishlist, Mankind, All Those Yesterdays, Black, Aliveenc: Do the Evolution, Given to Fly, Leatherman, Better Man, Leaving Here, (My Generation Blues)/Porch!notes: Ed dedicates the show to Frank Black after the first few songs. Right before ‘Corduroy,’ he says, “I’m very aware I’m standing where Charles is standing,” (a reference to Frank Black whose real name is Charles Thompson). After the ‘Noise of Carpet’ tag on ‘Daughter,’ Ed does a good three minutes of chants similar to Nusrat Fateh Ali Kahn with the band playing the closing ‘Daughter’ riff. Someone is holding up a sign after ‘Wishlist’ that says “Stone Stone Stone” on one side and something about Mankind on the other. Ed points at him and says, “This one’s for you fucker … Stone’s gonna sing one.” Stone makes a joking protest saying, “Oh, I couldn’t,” and they play ‘Mankind.’ During ‘All Those Yesterdays,’ they start the first verse, Stone’s guitar cuts out after Ed sings “Don’t you want to rest?” and Ed says, “Obviously, yes” and tells Stone “take your time, we’ll hang,” nodding to the audience. Then the crowd goes nuts out of enthusiasm, screaming for five minutes, and Ed says, “We should fuck up more often … I’d hate to be in here with you fuckers when you’re in the finals.” The band seems to draw positive energy from the crowd at this magical point. Extended solo for Mike in ‘Even Flow’ and also for ‘Black,’ but not as extended as Chicago. At the encore, Ed says he was thinking “Chicago, Chicago” the whole tour and didn’t give this show a thought and that the crowd really surprised him. For ‘Better Man,’ he starts singing the second verse, stops, the crowd keeps on singing and he jokes about it. ‘Porch’ appears for the first time on this tour, with a unique slow segue from ‘My Generation Blues’ (which can be found on TKAA soundtrack double vinyl) into ‘Porch,’ the three or four lines of ‘Porch’ sung to the bluesy tone of ‘My Generation Blues.’ Surprisingly, Ed plays guitar during ‘Porch.’ Jeff and Stone applaud a super crowd!poster

07/02/98 – Riverport Amphitheater: St. Louis, MO [125m]attendance: 20,000support act: Murder City Devilssoundcheck: Who You Are, Spin the Black Circle, In My Tree, Hail Hail, Elderly Womanset: Oceans, Hail Hail, Brain of J, Spin the Black Circle, Tremor Christ, Given to Fly, In Hiding, Corduroy, MFC, Wishlist, Nothingman, Improv/Habit, Even Flow, Daughter/(Institutionalized), Immortality, Black, Aliveenc 1: Do the Evolution, Jeremy, I Got Shit, Better Man/(Save it for Later), Fuckin’ Upenc 2: Yellow Ledbetternotes: Excellent show with the opening songs totally rocked out. Band looks really happy and playing great. ‘Oceans’ is a beautiful opener and ‘In Hiding’ is one of the finest versions played. ‘Nothingman’ is introduced as a song about a man who “not only couldn’t change the world … he couldn’t even take care of himself.” ‘Institutionalized’ is a Suicidal Tendencies cover (“I’m not crazy, you’re the one who’s crazy … institution.”) ‘Fuckin’ Up’ is a total surprise! Great crowd.poster

07/03/98 – Sandstone Amphitheater: Bonner Springs, KS [105m]support act: Murder City Devilsset: Corduroy, Hail Hail, Brain of J, Dissident, Faithfull, Jeremy, I Got Shit, MFC, Wishlist, Last Exit, Given to Fly, Even Flow, Daughter/(The Whole of the Moon), Footsteps, Alive, Goenc: Nothingman, Better Man, Do the Evolution, Smile, Rockin’ in the Free Worldnotes: A very hot and sweaty show (at least they were smart tonight and all wore shorts!). During the first few songs, the sweat is literally pouring off of Stone and Ed’s faces. After ‘Jeremy,’ Ed comments on how they haven’t been here in a while: “We weren’t touring anyway … it’s not like we were seeing other people … we’ve been saving ourselves for you.” ‘MFC’ is so intense that Ed breaks a string and then proceeds to finish the song banging the neck of his guitar against the mic stand. The ‘Daughter’ tag consists of Ed cupping his hands around his mouth to create a megaphone effect, singing “the shades go down” and moving his hands in and out to make some very weird and wonderful noises, followed by a short ‘The Whole of the Moon’ (a Waterboys cover). Then he points at the moon, and mentions that this is the last time for a while they’ll see “that thing” on this tour. “That thing moves us like the tides …” The intro to ‘Footsteps’ mentions the fact that the song was written before Ed was in the band and that Matt Cameron actually played on the first recording, and then Ed requests applause for Matt. He also mentions that he is not that anxious to be getting to Texas quickly, complete with a dead-on impersonation of a Texas drawl. He later goes into an interesting rant about creation and religion before ‘Smile,’ which ended with the statement, “What I want to know is, how many days did it take for man to create god?” A frantic ‘RitFW,’ complete with awesome solo by Mike, ends the set. On the real setlist but not played: ‘Pilate’ and ‘Off He Goes.’poster

07/05/98 – Reunion Arena: Dallas, TX [115m]support act: Murder City Devilssoundcheck: Hard to Imagine, MFC, Last Exit, Faithfull, Interstellar Overdrive/Corduroy, Off He Goesset: Sometimes, Last Exit, Brain of J, Hail Hail, Given to Fly, In Hiding, (Interstellar Overdrive)/Corduroy, Go, MFC, Wishlist, Rearviewmirror, Pilate, Alive, Spin the Black Circle, Off He Goes, Even Flow, Daughter/(Mother)/(Monkey Gone to Heaven), Mankind, Do the Evolutionenc: Jeremy, Immortality, Better Man/(Save it for Later), Sonic Reducer (w/ Murder City Devils)notes: Dennis Rodman makes an appearance during ‘Hail Hail’ and is in attendance for much of the show, smiling and occasionally singing. Ed sits in his lap for ‘Wishlist,’ and Ed and Rodman take turns pouring wine in each other’s mouths. With audience seating behind the stage, PJ turns and faces the back, playing to them during ‘RVM.’ During ‘Alive,’ Ed gets on Rodman’s shoulders. Eventually, PJ convinces Rodman to just watch and sit on the stool that Jeff uses while he’s playing the stand up bass. Later, he is kicked off the stage before ‘Off He Goes’ when Jeff needs his stool for the stand up bass, although before he leaves, he adds chorus backing vocals to ‘Spin’ via Stone’s mic. The ‘Daughter’ tag, ‘Mother,’ is a John Lennon cover (“Mother you had me, but I never had you”). During the first encore, Ed announces “This song is a B-side I’m sure no one here has ever heard,” then goes into ‘Jeremy.’ ‘Better Man’ is dedicated to “a special person in my life who knows who he is,” and right before a phenomenal version of ‘Sonic Reducer,’ Ed says he “admired Rodman for what he’s done and where he came from.” Ed takes to all four corners of the stage to wave to fans. On the last corner, Rodman grabs Ed again and runs him around the stage. The band is, again, in good form. Depending on who you talk to, Rodman either detracted from or enhanced the show.posterticket scan

07/07/98 – Tingley Coliseum: Albuquerque, NM [107m]support act: Spacehogsoundcheck: Fuckin’ Up, I Got Shit, Hail Hailset: Brain of J, Hail Hail, Corduroy, Rearviewmirror, Given to Fly, Dissident, Spin the Black Circle, Faithfull, Alive, MFC, Habit, Wishlist, improv/Crazy Mary, Nothingman, Jeremy, Do the Evolution, Better Man, Blackenc: Last Exit, Even Flow, Daughter, Fuckin’ Up, Rockin’ in the Free World, Yellow Ledbetternotes: An incredibly hot venue with the crowd going NUTS with the first note of the show. Stone has many guitar problems all night. ‘RVM’ features a cool band jam with Ed soloing with some strange harmonics and effects. During ‘Spin the Black Circle,’ he puts a tambourine on top of his mic stand, slapping it to make it spin while belting out, “spin … spin.” ‘MFC’ is introduced as, “… sometimes you have to get away. This song is about getting away to somewhere.” The ‘Habit’ line is “speaking as someone from Pedro.” Stone has guitar problems, which is why they play ‘Crazy Mary.’ In praise of the amazing energy, after ‘DTE,” Ed tells the crowd that they are the best they’ve seen on the whole tour. He jumps down into the crowd under Stone during ‘Black,’ greeting fans for a long time before returning to the stage. During ‘Fuckin’ Up,’ the house lights come on!!! The band didn’t seem to care and Ed raised both middle fingers to the lights. During ‘RitFW,’ Mike makes a hugh circle around the whole stage and Ed bashes a hole in the stage with the mic stand, wood chips flying, with the stand getting stuck at one point. ‘Yellow Ledbetter’ is played by request for some fans with a HUGE banner (probably 20 people wide) down front. Ed exits at the end of the show, big smile on his face, via the hole he’s chopped in the stage.

07/08/98 – Veterans Memorial Coliseum: Phoenix, AZ [109m]attendance: 14,000support act: Spacehogsoundcheck: Corduroy, Wishlist (opening riff), DTE (3x), Lukin, Spin the Black Circle, Elderly Woman, I Got You, Crazy Mary (one verse), Open Road?set: Corduroy, Hail Hail, Brain of J, Tremor Christ, In Hiding, Even Flow, Given to Fly, Leatherman, Wishlist, Jeremy, Spin the Black Circle, Daughter/(WMA)/(MLK), I Got Shit, Elderly Woman, Rearviewmirror, Black, Better Man/(Save It For Later)enc: Go, Do the Evolution, Alive, Immortality, Leaving Herenotes: Matt breaks a stick during ‘Hail Hail.’ Mike does an awesome ‘Even Flow’ solo. Ed introduces ‘Leatherman’ as “a b-side to that song [they just played 'GTF'] so some of you might not know it. True story, swear to god …” ‘Wishlist’ last verse is, “I wish I was one of the radio stars, sometimes you get what you want. I wish I wish I wish I wish … I wish I was thankful for everything I’ve got.” After ‘STBC,’ Ed flips the mic stand over, and then he says that he noticed one thing about Phoenix: “It’s really fucking hot … there’s probably no vinyl around here any more; if there was, they would have all melted.” Ed uses the e-bow during ‘RVM’ (and not just during ‘Wishlist’). He dedicates ‘Black’ to [former AZ governor] Ed Meacham because “… he seems to know a lot about the word ‘white’.” Ed fakes a stage dive during ‘Alive.’ Matt’s tremendously powerful drumming at the end of ‘Immortality’ is full and quick-paced, yet very tight and smooth. (On the setlist but not played: Interstellar Overdrive, Mankind, Indifference, SoL&T)setlist scanposter

07/10/98 – Cox Arena: San Diego, CA [134m]attendance: 11,000support act: Spacehogsoundcheck: Corduroy, ? (same song played during the 11/21/96 soundcheck), Sometimes (just the opening riff), Off He Goes, MFC (may have also played Dead Man and Trouble)set: Long Road, Corduroy, Last Exit, Brain of J, Do the Evolution, Given to Fly, In Hiding, Rearviewmirror, Immortality, Wishlist, Nothingman, Spin the Black Circle, Even Flow, Daughter/(Roam), MFC, Alive, Hail Hailenc 1: Jeremy, Go, Lukin, Better Man, Leaving Here, Black, Rockin’ in the Free Worldenc 2: Yellow Ledbetternotes: Tiny venue, poor sound, GREAT crowd, very ON performance with a few rough spots. ‘Corduroy’ features a completely different intro, starting out with just guitar and then the drums build in. Ed skips the first verse of ‘RVM’ and repeats the second twice, and the second go round is excellent and the jam goes way out and comes back hard! Not a lot of chat, until before ‘Immortality’ Ed says, “hometown boy, Matt Cameron.” ‘Wishlist’ lyric changes: Ed sings “as fortunate as YOU” and instead of “I wish I was the evidence, I wish I was the grounds,” he says “sound.” At the end, he sings, “I wish I was a mountain, wishes can come true, I wish I wish I wish I wish … if you ever want to, do …” (San Diego WAS where the original PJ lyrics were written.) ‘Even Flow’ is humorously flubbed–he goes into the chorus too soon but catches himself, and Mike’s wicked solo is reeled back eventually by Stone, with Ed noting, “that’s Mike over there.” ‘Roam’ is a B52s cover, with Ed noting is as “… one of the deepest secrets they’ve hidden in their songs besides ‘tin roof, rusted’” . ‘MFC’ is introduced with, “If you gotta get out, get a small car.” During ‘RitFW,’ he goes off on a sarcastic political rant about how he’s glad our politicians are out there protecting us from flag burning … no need to focus on problems like sewage being poured into the oceans because we’ve got flag burners to deal with. Classic Ed intensity. Mike dedicates ‘Yellow Ledbetter’ to his dad.poster

07/11/98 – Thomas & Mack Center: Las Vegas, NV [95m]support act: Zeke and Xset: MFC, Corduroy, Brain of J, Hail Hail, Given to Fly, Dissident, Even Flow, Faithfull, Jeremy, Nothingman, Leatherman, Wish List, Lukin, Daughter/(White Girl)/(WMA), Better Man, Rearviewmirror, Aliveenc: Spin the Black Circle, Do the Evolution, Habit, Black, Last Exitnotes: Late show. Poor security, drunk crowd … even booed X. After ‘Given to Fly,’ Ed says (sarcastically), “So, we’re in Las Vegas. My, what a wonderful place it is, too!” and the crowd cheers. He falls and laughs it off toward the end of ‘Even Flow.’ During ‘Faithfull,’ Ed spells out “M.Y.T.H” in sign language. ‘Nothingman’ is introduced as a “nice little ditty about a fuck up. This is like Leaving Las Vegas right here.” Drinking a beer after ‘Lukin,’ Ed says he wishes he had some to share and tells the crowd they should feel lucky since they got to see X play. ‘White Girl’ is a X cover song. ‘Last Exit’ closes the show, with Ed proclaiming, “See you all later … I’m going to go watch Siegfried and Roy.” (‘Porch’ was on the written setlist but isn’t played.)poster

07/13/98 – The Forum: Inglewood, CA [107m]attendance: 15,500support act: X and Tenacious Dsoundcheck: Even Flow, Not for You, Spin the Black Circle, Whipping, Leaving Here, Last Exit, Alive riff, Present Tense, Off He Goes (first three songs may not be in order)set: Sometimes, Corduroy, Hail Hail, Brain of J, In Hiding, Even Flow, Given to Fly, MFC, Not for You, Wishlist, Jeremy, Do the Evolution, Dissident, Present Tense, Spin the Black Circle, Rearviewmirror, Goenc 1: Elderly Woman, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Daughter/(I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts), Aliveenc 2: Baba O’Rileynotes: The opening act, Tenacious D, are two guys with acoustic guitars who are VERY funny. Ed introduces them, saying something like, “Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath will not be here tonight as scheduled. Instead, their bastard child, Tenacious D!” Mr. McCready is wearing a dress and fishnet stockings. The band seems rested from Las Vegas and in a good mood. ‘Wishlist’ last lines are modified to, “I wish I got to play in a band, and open up for X. I wish, I wish, I could tell you, they’ll be out here next.” Mike gets tackled by Ed at the end of ‘STBC,’ and he spins him around by his ankles. Ed mentions that Mike Watt gave him a book before ‘Elderly Woman,’ and quotes a line from Willy Wonka, “Do you know what happened to the boy whose wishes all came true? He lived happily ever after.” A great moment during ‘Elderly Woman:’ at the song’s climax … “I just want to scream HELLO!!! My God it’s been so long. Never dreamed you’d return, but now here you are [looking out to the crowd, bright white lights on] and here I am.” Ed comments that they are lucky to play the Forum, that the crowd is lucky to play in the Forum. Also that it not the Great Western Forum to them, but “The Fabulous Forum.” The ‘Daughter’ tag is once again an X song. ‘Alive’ includes a tease of the Black Sabbath song ‘Heaven and Hell’ in the ending jam and the behind the head guitar work. An incredible ‘Baba O’Riley,’ with all of them simply going off. Ed spills Heineken all across the stage and during the final notes, he gets a running start and slides on his knees with his guitar across the stage (much as in the movie The Kids are Alright where Townshend does this during ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’). Then Ed breaks his red Gibson SG. A hard-driving show.poster

07/14/98 – The Forum: Inglewood, CA [109m]attendance: 15,500support act: X and Tenacious Dset: Release, Last Exit, Brain of J, Hail Hail, Red Mosquito, Given to Fly, Corduroy, I Got Shit, Off He Goes, Even Flow, Faithfull, Daughter/ (The KKK Took My Baby Away)/(I Believe In Miracles), Nothingman, Jeremy, Habit, Better Man, Aliveenc 1: Do the Evolution, Rearviewmirror, Wishlist, Leaving Hereenc 2: The KKK Took My Baby Away (w/Johnny Ramone)notes: Ed screws up the beginning of ‘Habit,’ then takes credit for it by saying, “My bad. Matt, say hello to Matt Cameron, was doing a beautiful job and I fucked it up.” Eddie mentions smoking a cigarette in a public building in California, that he normally wouldn’t, but he was going to do it because he could. He thanks the members of X by name, individually. The “speaking as” break in ‘Habit’ has a different twist: Instead of saying “speaking as,” Ed starts playing guitar, a dark, slow, droning riff reminiscent of ‘This Boy.’ Ed strums on this riff for a few seconds and then Matt begins drumming and Ed sings a bit. They jam on this dark little riff for 20 seconds or so and then silence. A dramatic pause and BAM, back into ‘Habit.’ Breathtaking! Ed changes the lyric in ‘DTE’ to “I’m the first mammal to wet my pants.” Before Wishlist, the band gives a shout out to Tenacious D, and Ed changes the lyric in Wishlist, to “I wish I was as fortunate, as fortunate as KG,” referring to one of the guys from Tenacious D. ‘Leaving Here’ is introduced as one “… for all the ladies … no, actually it’s for the guys … treat ‘em right.” A very fun show, with Johnny Ramone playing guitar with Mike on the final encore, Ed singing and Stone playing the tambourine with a big, goofy grin on his face. A celebrity studded crowd: Jim Carey spotted side-stage and Gene Simmons (of Kiss) sat behind the soundboard! ‘Black,’ ‘Go’ and ‘Immortality’ are on the setlist, but not played.poster

07/16/98 – Arco Arena: Sacramento, CA [105m]attendance: 17,000support act: Xsoundcheck: Porch, Aloneset: Spin the Black Circle, Hail Hail, Brain of J, Given to Fly, Corduroy, MFC, Habit, Even Flow, Jeremy, Daughter/(Noise of Carpet), Immortality, I Got Shit, Rearviewmirror, Nothingman, Wishlist, Alive, Goenc 1: Do the Evolution, Better Man, In My Tree, Black, Porch!enc 2: Yellow Ledbetternotes: Ed comes out to introduce X (standing at the side of the stage for nearly 15 minutes before the crowd notices), saying, “… one of the greatest bands to ever write, sing and play.” Lots of different lighting effects tonight, including red, white and blue lights on the backdrop during ‘Brain of J.’ Mike is playing really well and his solos are totally different tonight. The flavor is more bluesy rather than wailing and he uses a slide on ‘Corduroy.’ There is a hint at Ed’s annoyance with the crowd’s poor reception to X when he alters the ‘MFC’ lyrics during the “fuck it” part to “fuck you.” This seems to be Ed screws up the lyrics night, with botched lyrics for ‘Better Man,’ ‘Even Flow,’ ‘Wishlist’ and ‘RVM.’ The ‘Noise of Carpet’ tag is long, extended more than the 96 shows. ‘In My Tree’ is dedicated to Jack Irons. The energy is really strong at the start of the show and dissipates, almost as if PJ is afraid to play too hard. Something seems to really be bothering Ed and he says, “You guys really pissed me off before …” during ‘Porch.’ This may have been a reference to the crowd, which was very rough. He also says, ‘It would be really nice if you could cheer that loud for the first band, the band I think was better.”poster

07/18/98 – Rose Garden Arena: Portland, OR [110m]attendance: 18,000support act: Frank Blacksoundcheck: Tremor Christ (snippet), Brain of J (beginning riff), I Got You, instrumental, Not for You, Hail Hail (first half), Sonic Reducer, Red Mosquito (snippet), MFC (snippets), Off He Goes (snippet)set: Corduroy, Hail Hail, Brain of J, Spin the Black Circle, Red Mosquito, Given to Fly, Even Flow, In Hiding, Jeremy, Daughter/(Come Together)/(improv)/(I’ve Been Tired), MFC, In My Tree, Wishlist, Elderly Woman, Present Tense, Rearviewmirror, Aliveenc 1: Do the Evolution, Black, Leatherman, Better Man, Leaving Here, Goenc 2: Fuckin’ Upnotes: From the first song, Stone is bouncing up and down on the side of the stage and Mike and Stone are doing matching jumps from opposite sites of the stage during ‘Alive.’ A perfect ‘In My Tree’ and ‘Jeremy.’ ‘Elderly Woman’ features a humorous beginning, with Stone and Ed alternating with “you start” … “no, you start” for about three minutes. Ed uses the ebow near the end of ‘RVM.’ The lights are brought down during ‘DTE’ and a cartoon is shown on the backdrop. Ed sits next to Mike’s amp with one ear to it during the ‘Black’ solo. Matt sings backup during ‘Better Man’ and ‘Leatherman.’ Mike parades a dog around on stage during ‘Fuckin Up.’ Many setlist changes: ‘Faithfull,’ ‘All Those Yesterdays’ and ‘Nothingman’ are deleted; ‘StBC’ is added.poster

07/19/98 – Pacific Coliseum: Vancouver, British Columbia [113m]attendance: 14,000-15,000support act: Frank Blacksoundcheck: Not for You, MFC, Off He Goes, Last Kiss, I Got You, Hail Hailset: Sometimes, Go, Hail Hail, Brain of J, Dissident, Even Flow, Given to Fly, Corduroy, MFC, Lukin, Wishlist, Jeremy, Daughter/(Hey Hey My My), Not for You, Off He Goes, Better Man, Rearviewmirror, Black, Last Exitenc 1: Do the Evolution, Nothingman, Alive, Leaving Hereenc 2: Yellow Ledbetter, BABA O’RILEY!!!!notes: Band is relaxed and playing well; however, the crowd is a little too sedate. The set is cut short with “Last Exit,” Eddie inciting the crowd by doing these Vegas-style lunges towards the crowd. This all changes with an incredibly intense ‘DTE’ and is culminated when, during ‘Alive,’ Eddie walks around the stage, applauding the kids dancing in the empty seats in the back, and CLIMBS INTO THE CROWD for more than a few minutes. The band returns to play ‘Yellow Ledbetter,’ and are about to leave when Eddie goes over to the band members and asks them if they feel like one more, picks up a tambourine, and, yep, ‘Baba O’Riley’ bringing the house down.poster

07/21/98 – Memorial Stadium: Seattle, WA [111m]attendance: 25,000support act: The Wallflowers and Zekesoundcheck: Leatherman, Mankind, Immortality, Footsteps, MFC, Animal, I Can’t Explain [soundcheck was held the day before]set: Corduroy, Whipping, Hail Hail, Brain of J, Dissident, Even Flow, Jeremy, Given to Fly, Leatherman, In Hiding, State of Love and Trust, Daughter/(Noise of Carpet), MFC, Better Man, Rearviewmirror, Black, Aliveenc 1: Do the Evolution, Wishlist, I Got Shit, Footsteps, Spin the Black Circle, Goenc 2: Baba O’Riley, Yellow Ledbetternotes: PJ provides an excellently organized and festive atmosphere for the first of their hometown gigs with people walking the crowd handing out free popsicles, courtesy of the band. However, the crowd is extremely sedate, which continues to frustrate Ed until after ‘Leatherman,’ when he snaps, “You’re the sleepiest goddamn crowd this side of Portland.” Mike’s solos are excellent, and Matt once again excels, prompting Ed to tell a funny story about how the band all lives in the same house, and when Jack “couldn’t make it,” they “went out in the backyard and found Matt sitting there – Matt is everything.” He also refers to the fact that these shows are benefits, commenting “Fuck [former Seattle Mayor] Norm Rice … Jeff Ament’s the governor for today, and ‘DTE’ is introduced with a sarcastic story about how Ed “found God” on the road – “that’s big news, right?” Mike throws in the intro riff to Hendrix’s ‘Machine Gun’ at the end of ‘Yellow Ledbetter.”posterother postert-shirt

07/22/98 – Memorial Stadium: Seattle, WA [120m]attendance: 25,000support act: The Wallflowers and Sean Lennonset: Throw Your Arms Around Me [Ed solo pre Sean Lennon]; Last Exit, Animal, Spin the Black Circle, Brain of J, Faithfull, Red Mosquito, Given to Fly, MFC, Habit, Not for You, Daughter/(Beginning to See the Light), Even Flow, Off He Goes, Better Man, Lukin, Present Tense, Mankind, Alive, Corduroy, Hail Hail, Do the Evolution, Porchenc 1: Wishlist, Leatherman, Leaving Here, Fuckin’ Upenc 2: Yellow Ledbetternotes: The band absolutely stands and delivers for this final show of the West Leg of the 1998 tour, and the crowd does likewise. Ed surprises the audience by walking onstage, Rickenbacker in hand, and graces the crowd with an incredible rendition of ‘Throw Your Arms Around Me’ before Sean Lennon’s set. He also introduces the Wallflowers, bopping onstage to ‘Emotional Rescue,’ the Wallflowers’ pre-show music. Later, he greets the crowd: “Are you the same fucks from yesterday? Ya look damn familiar … actually I think you’re better … so far.” Killer versions of ‘Faithfull,’ ‘Do The Evolution’ and ‘Porch’ are highlights. Ed dedicates ‘GTF’ to “the birds and people that think like them.” Stone speaks: “We’re gonna kick it up a notch — with me!” as they go into a great ‘Mankind.’ Ed starts off the encore by informing everyone that “the Hanson concert hasn’t let out yet so we’re just gonna keep playing …” and later says, “I’d like to thank god for the weather but I don’t believe in him.” Tonight’s special guest: airborne Mister Pickles! ‘Yellow Ledbetter’ again, including the Hendrix riff plus a bit of ‘The Star Spangled Banner.’ We’ll miss you, guys. See you in August.

08/28/98 – PJ’s animated video directed by Todd McFarlane, “Do The Evolution” is released to MTV

08/17/98 – Deer Creek Music Center: Noblesville, IN [105m]attendance: 20,500support act: Iggy Popsoundcheck: Hail Hail, Around the Bend, Off He Goes, In Hiding, Leatherman, Nothingman (soundcheck held previous day; list may not be in order)set: Long Road, Hail Hail, Brain of J, Last Exit, Given to Fly, Corduroy, MFC, (new Jeremy improv), Immortality, Even Flow, Nothingman, Rearviewmirror, Wishlist, In Hiding, Spin the Black Circle, Alive, Goenc 1: Better Man/(Save it for Later), Daughter, Do the Evolution, Leaving Hereenc 2: Yellow Ledbetternotes: The first show of the East Leg of the 1998 US Tour finds the band in EXCELLENT energy and spirits. All the members are spotted sidestage rocking out to Iggy Pop’s tremendous opening set, and it seems as though his energy inspired them to kick ass. Ed’s hair is shorter, blacker and slicked back, and he greets the audience with, “Okay, fuckers, our turn” (making reference to Iggy’s rants at the dead crowd for his set). ‘MFC’ is prefaced with, “If you ever wanna get out of town, expand your boundaries, the best way might not be a tractor… but if a tractor’s all ya have, go for it.” Ed sings an interesting improv, based on the structure of the new ‘Jeremy,’ with the lyrics being, “The President spoke in court today.” ‘Immortality’ is a total Matt Cameron-based jam, so much so that Ed makes a point of giving him props at the end. Stone is absolutely on fire tonight, jumping, thrashing, at the front of the stage constantly. ‘Nothingman’ is dedicated to the lawn (Ed claiming that that’s where he would have been at that show, if he hadn’t found a way to sneak down front). During ‘Alive,’ Ed balances on Pete’s shoulders to grab hands down front, and then runs to the left and right side to do the same thing, afterwards applauding the crowd: “Good job, Indy – good job tonight.” Prior to the first encore, Ed acknowledges some of the signs in the audience requesting songs, as well as one reading “Ed Lewinsky” and then they play a brief clip of Clinton’s speech from that afternoon, follow ed by Ed reading excerpts from it; at the end he comments, “I have one word to say – ‘consensual’.” ‘Better Man’ is dedicated in turn to both Bill and Hillary Clinton, and the tag has the melody of ‘WMA,’ but no words are sung. His parting words are, “Behave like rock stars – not like the President.” Crowd was amazing and the band was really happy because of it. (On the written setlist but not played: Porch, Indifference, Present Tense, Off He Goes)poster

08/18/98 – Breslin Student Events Center: East Lansing, MI [95m]attendance: 15,300support act: Iggy Popsoundcheck: Soldier of Love, Footsteps (partial), Hard to Imagine (partial), Dissident, All Those Yesterdays, No Way (!!), improv, Indifference, Satan’s Bedset: Release, Do the Evolution, Spin the Black Circle, Brain of J, Dissident, Given to Fly, Corduroy, MFC, Wishlist, Jeremy, Even Flow, Faithfull, Elderly Woman, Off He Goes, Rearviewmirrorenc 1: Hail Hail, I Got Shit, Alive, Black, Soldier of Love [cover]notes: During ‘Brain of J,’ Mike and Stone jam together during Stone’s solo. Introing ‘Dissident,’ Ed says, “Dedicated to a girl named Monica.” Between ‘Corduroy’ and ‘MFC,’ Ed says, “… It feels like we’re playing a frat party on a Friday – not a frat party, a keg party … no not a keg party, a pot party… Anything’s worth smoking.” Ed has trouble with the e-bow (no sound initially) on ‘Wishlist,’ only playing a couple of notes and flubs the lyrics saying, “I wish I wish I wish … I wish I knew this song.” During ‘Even Flow,’ Matt does this really cool fill and Mike goes over and jams on it. ‘Elderly Woman is directed toward “you” (the crowd). Ed, having voice problems, motions toward his throat at various times. ‘RVM’ is excellent and the jam is really trancey. In the middle of it, Ed takes out a towel, puts it over the monitors, puts a soccer ball on it, and kicks it into the middle of the arena! The stage is brightly lit during ‘Alive,’ Ed was checks out the crowd, and sees a “Breath” sign. He gets a big smile and starts laughing (shaking his finger as if to say “no no no”), and then during ‘Black,’ in the line where he says “breath,” he really draws that word out while looking at the guy with the sign. ! After ‘Black,’ which features an INCREDIBLE solo from Mike, Ed says, “That’s Mike … you know Stone … but thanks especially to Matt,” and the crowd gives him a big round of applause. For ‘Soldier of Love,’ (a song by Arthur Alexander written in 1962) which Ed introduces as a “song for people in love,” and that they had just learned that day, he brings out a kid with a Univ. of Michigan shirt into the audience – he gets booed (MSU being a big rival) – Ed says, “Oh, I didn’t realize you were wearing the wrong shirt” and brings out a girl to hold the written lyrics in his journal for him instead. (He speaks into her recorder and began dancing with her toward the end of the song.) Final Ed comments of the night: some thanks to the crowd for choosing PJ over the Beastie Boys (also playing down the road that night) and “on behalf of all of us, we wanna thank Iggy Pop, it’s really nice to play with him in his own state …” and comments on the Michigan live music censorship bill, “some guy showing his penis or something,” and closes the show with the immortal comment: “They want your parents to have to go with you to rock concerts, just in case some guy pulls out his penis or something. It’s rock and roll. You should be able to, I should be able to show my penis. It’s rock and roll.” (On the setlist and not played: Footsteps, Fuckin’ Up, SoL&T, Habit)

08/20/98 – Molson Centre: Montreal, Quebec [116m]attendance: 21,273support act: Cheap Tricksoundcheck: Hard to Imagine, Footsteps, Animal, State of Love and Trust, Present Tense, Last Kissset: Sometimes, Corduroy, Animal, Hail Hail, Brain of J, Red Mosquito, Given to Fly, Even Flow, Not for You, Wishlist, Lukin, Jeremy, Daughter/(Another Brick in the Wall), Present Tense, State of Love and Trust, Do the Evolutionenc 1: Hard to Imagine, Better Man/(Save it for Later), Alive, Black, Leaving Here, Baba O’Rileyenc 2: Yellow Ledbetternotes: While Cheap Trick performs, Matt is snapping photos and freaking out; Stone, Jeff and Mike are on Mike’s side (also freaking out majorly); Rick Nielsen throws Mike a pick and Mike apparently knocks over several people to get the pick! Matt is outstanding during ‘Hail Hail.’ Mike kicks ass on ‘Red Mosquito’. Stone plays a cool, bluesy solo during ‘Not for You.’ At the end of ‘Wishlist,’ Ed says, “I wish I was Canadian.” The ‘Daughter’ tag includes “Mr. President, leave those kids alone.” After ‘Daughter,’ Ed says that he was going to try to kiss everybody’s ass because he hasn’t been here in a while, and then says (in French), “It’s been too long since we’ve seen each other.” Then he says, “I hope that’s what it says, I hope it doesn’t say, ‘can i have a taco supreme’ … the funny thing is, every day at 3 o’clock before i take my 4 o’clock bong load, Jeff gives me a call and says, ‘I wonder about those people in Montreal and wonder how they’re doing.’” Mike does laps around the stage during ‘Present Tense.’ ‘DTE’ is on fire, and wraps up the first set with a simple “thank you” from Ed. Upon returning for the encore, he says, “I’ve been seeing all your signs tonight, and we’re gonna do that one right there,” before doing ‘Hard to Imagine.’ ‘Better Man’ is once again dedicated to Hillary Clinton, and features a segue into a very extended ‘Save it for Later.’ At the end of ‘Alive,’ Ed grabs Mike and says, “He’s still alive.” At the end of ‘Black,’ Mike is un-fucking-believable, he is possessed, flying around, going all over the place, the whole band was watching him, and at the end, Jeff walks over and shakes his hand, congratulating him. After ‘Leaving Here,’ Ed talks about hockey, and then says, “And that’s Matt Cameron in goal,” and the crowd goes nuts. (‘In Hiding’ was on the setlist but not played.)poster

08/22/98 – Molson Park: Barrie, Ontario [125m]attendance: 35,000support act: Cheap Trick, All Systems Go, Hayden, Cracker, Matthew Good Bandsoundcheck: Not for You (snippet), Corduroy (short), I Got Shit, MFCset: Corduroy, Brain of J, Hail Hail, Animal, Dissident, Given to Fly, MFC, Habit, Wishlist, Even Flow, Daughter/(Surrender), In Hiding, Jeremy, State of Love and Trust, Nothingman, Better Man, Leatherman, Aliveenc 1: Immortality, Rearviewmirror, Last Exit, I Got Shit/(Cinnamon Girl), Black, Do the Evolutionenc 2: Yellow Ledbetternotes: As Cheap Trick is performing, various members of PJ are spotted rocking out (and Mike taking photos through a small hole cut in the black cloth enveloping the scaffolding!), including Ed doing chinups and swinging on the scaffolding poles like a monkey and then holding his hand out, practically above his head, snapping his fingers rapidly with Rick Nielsen acknowledging him and grinning. During the first few songs, someone tosses a football and Ed catches it and looks around as if to say, “What the hell?!” Then he says, “check this out” and he flings his shoe off his foot simply by throwing his leg up in the air and kicks the ball 40 yards into the crowd. After ‘Animal,’ Ed addresses the crowd for the first time: “We made it, looks beautiful out there, we’ll try to do it better than last time we played here, I feel better, I’m Ed Vedder.” During ‘Habit,’ Ed changes the “speaking as” line to “speaking as a dumb-ass, beer-drinking, propaganda-believing, missile-shooting, American.” ‘Surrender’ is a Cheap Trick song. Right before ‘State,’ Ed refers to a Mike having a special guest, and Mike plays the song with one of Rick Nielsen’s guitars. ‘Nothingman’ is highlighted with lightning bolts on the backdrop. During ‘Leatherman,’ Ed’s guitar cuts out during the break, Matt just keeps drumming. Then: “Driving in today, I saw two of the coolest things I’ve ever seen: First I saw a guy wearing a watermelon on his head [laughing] – that guy’s Canadian of the year; then I saw the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen on the tour: I saw a guy with a truck, and in the back of a truck he had a couch, a chair, a fridge … this song’s about a bad-ass, the people up front are a bunch of bad-asses, the people in the back are a bunch of bad-asses; you’re all a bunch of bad-asses.” During Mike’s ‘Alive’ solo, Ed is walking along the speaker stands, dancing and pointing and jumping up and down. “Next time we come here – actually there might not be a next time – I don’t know if you know this, but the Doomsday Clock was pushed forward a few minutes, the Doomsday Clock is now at 5 minutes to midnight; you guys don’t know what I’m talking about, do you – it means we’re all gonna die, fuckers …” leading to ‘Immortality.’ ‘Do the Evolution’ features the new video on the backdrop. A great crowd with Ed acknowledging: “Next time we’ll do three shows in smaller venues so we can get the same number of people in.” When the band takes the stage for ‘Yellow Ledbetter,’ the crowd noise is unbelievable and Ed covers his ears! He changes the lyrics from “don’t ever wanna feel this way again” to “am never gonna have this much fun again.” Ed appears not to want to leave, staring at the cheering crowd and leaving with his hand placed over his heart.poster

08/23/98 – Palace of Auburn Hills: Auburn Hills, MI [120m]attendance: 22,076support act: Cheap Trickset: Long Road, Last Exit, Brain of J, Do the Evolution, Tremor Christ, Corduroy, MFC, Immortality, Wishlist, Alive, Given to Fly, Go, Jeremy, Even Flow, Daughter/(I Want You To Want Me), All Those Yesterdays, Rearviewmirrorenc 1: Animal, Hail Hail, Off He Goes, Better Man/(Crazy Mary), Footstepsenc 2: Smile, Fuckin’ Upnotes: Ed sings background vocals for ‘Surrender,’ the last song of Cheap Trick’s opening set, introduced by CT as “a friend who is new in the music industry, we want to give him a hand starting out.” Before MFC, Ed says, “I’d like to thank the greatest guitar tech in the world, Rick Nielsen.” The ‘MFC’ lyrics are modified from: “there’s a lot to be said for nowhere” to “there’s a lot to be said for Detroit.” Mike plays the ‘Go’ solo behind his head; during an incredible ‘RVM’ (introed by Ed by saying, “first gear … second gear … third gear …” all the way up to fifth), a stagediver invades the stage, is removed by Eric Johnson, and Ed says, “No, bring him back,” and then says “kneel” and the guy gets on his knees. Then he turns to the crowd and says sarcastically, “These fucking assholes who try to get onstage piss me off … not to mention the HAIRCUT” and the crowd goes wild, he’s got a haircut that is short on the top and long on the back, “let me guess – you’re from CANADA – what the fuck?! Either you want it short, or you want it long – make up your fucking mind!” and then he cuts his hair with a pair of Swiss Army Knife scissors (not before whispering in his ear to make sure it was okay). Long speech between ‘Daughter’ and ‘All Those Yesterdays’ about working and being slackers and burning it on both ends, and “fuck that.” The ‘Better Man’ tag is the music for ‘Save It For Later,’ but the lyrics to ‘Crazy Mary.’ ‘Smile’ is introduced as “a new song … with Stone Gossard playing – nothing” (since it was taking George a long time to get a bass to Stone). Before ‘Footsteps’, Ed says, “To be frank, honest, candid – the five of us together making music is pretty fun; even without you. We had a lot of fun in East Lansing; this has been great, too. Now we’re gonna play a request.”

08/25/98 – Star Lake Amphitheatre: Pittsburgh, PA [123m]attendance: 22,536support act: Iggy Popsoundcheck: long spacy jam, Whipping, Red Mosquito (w/ harmonica at end), Last Kiss, Soldier of Loveset: Throw Your Arms Around Me, Release, Brain of J, Last Exit, Corduroy, I Got Shit, Faithfull, Even Flow, Jeremy, MFC, Rearviewmirror, Wishlist, Daughter/(Outshined)/(I Wanna Live), Do the Evolution, Given to Fly, Elderly Woman, Aliveenc 1: No Way, Animal, Hail Hail, Not for You, Nothingman, Black, Rockin’ in the Free World, Yellow Ledbetternotes: Before Iggy Pop, Ed comes out and sings a little song we like to call ‘Throw Your Arms Around Me,’ substituting “the grey summer skies” due to the Pittsburgh weather. Before ‘MFC’, Ed says, “It’s been a while. So, to make up for it, we’ll play every song,” and the crowd goes nuts. During the song, Ed changes the words to “there’s a lot to be said for Pittsburgh.” ‘RVM’ is a total speed version, with a strange tag in the middle. The first ‘Daughter’ tag is none other than ‘Outshined’ by (doh) Soundgarden, except that Ed changes the lyrics to “feeling Pennsylvania …,” and at the end, he adds a bit of ‘I Wanna Live’ by Iggy. After ‘DTE,’ Ed comments, “I guess the next step in evolution is, we’re gonna have an electrical outlet up our ass, and a Microsoft number given to us at birth … no, wait, maybe a chip implanted in our ear … but above all, I’d mention, I’d rather have a pair of wings any day,” and they go into ‘GTF.’ Before the band comes out for the first encore, the audience starts chanting, “Here we go Steelers …” Then Ed comes out, something in his hand, it’s a t-shirt, and someone had written on the front “No” and on the back “Way.” So he holds it up, turns it, turns it again, and then he says, “Well, my answer to that …” and then he turns the shirt so his answer in theory was “No Way” and then he pauses and says, “Wait, what do you think … should we give it a try?” and the crowd goes nuts. Then he stops and discusses it, and says, “Okay, we’re gonna give this one a go” and they go into the first playing of ‘No Way’ on the 1998 Tour! Ed sticks his head through the tambourine during ‘RITFW.’ ‘Yellow Ledbetter’ is introduced: “My good friend [?] and you’ll never understand this, is apt to say, ‘I’ll never talk to clouds on a sunny day’”; during Mike’s solo at the end, Eddie grabs a tape recorder held by a fan in the front and talks into it!poster

08/26/98 – Blossom Music Center: Cuyahoga Falls, OH [109m]attendance: 18,445support act: Iggy Popsoundcheck: Black Diamond [KISS song], Noise of Carpet (the whole song), Leatherman, Off He Goes, Red Mosquito (with Ed on harmonica at the end)set: Hail Hail, Animal, Given to Fly, Corduroy, MFC, Immortality, Footsteps, Even Flow, Jeremy, In Hiding, Daughter/(My City Was Gone)/(WMA), Brain of J, Rearviewmirror, Better Man, Wishlist, Aliveenc 1: Elderly Woman, Do the Evolution, Leatherman, Black, Baba O’Rileyenc 2: Yellow Ledbetternotes: Ed starts the show by arriving onstage via skateboard. ‘Immortality’ is renamed by people at the show as “Matt Fuckin’ Cameron” due to his stellar work on this number. Ed notes, “… we’re on our way to Philadelphia tomorrow … and we haven’t played there in a long time. We’re going to have to get out of here early to be sure we get there in time … it’s a long drive.” The crowd boos and Ed laughs and continues, “I’m just fuckin’ with you. You like to be fucked with, right?” ‘My City Was Gone’ is by the Pretenders, who are from Ohio (Akron to be precise), and is a song about Cleveland. After ‘Black,’ Ed mentions that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is in Cleveland: “Earlier this evening, I know you’ve got a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame…we drove by it, I don’t know who runs the place, but…those people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones…” Jeff interrupts, saying: “And where’s the fucking Iggy exhibit, goddamn it!” Ed chuckles: “So what I was gonna say, was, it’s right by the airport, but we’re a lot closer tonight, having Iggy Pop here, standing right here … let’s just say next time we play here, it could be a year, maybe two…we hope, if it happens… if Iggy’s not in yet, after the show, we’re all gonna go down there and blow the place up…speaking of the hall of fame [he holds up a sign saying 'Baba'] – the WHO!” and the band busts into ‘Baba O’Riley.’ [The Stooges, Iggy's first band, were recently nominated to the HOF, but did not get in.] ‘Wishlist’ ends with the “radio song” verse, but instead of saying “I guess it never stops” he says “I guess it has to stop”. Jeff comes out for ‘Yellow Ledbetter’ wearing a Cleveland Cavaliers jersey with Shawn Kemp’s name and uniform number on the back.poster

08/28/98 – Blockbuster Music Entertainment Centre: Camden, NJ [122m]attendance: 25,000support act: Mudhoney, Iggy Popsoundcheck: no soundcheck today due to Ed’s voiceset: Release, Animal, Hail Hail, Given To Fly, Corduroy, MFC, I Got Shit, Even Flow, Jeremy, Daughter/(Suck You Dry)/(WMA), Off He Goes, Immortality, Rearviewmirror, Brain of J, Black, Better Man, Aliveenc 1: (Sweet Home Alabama), (Philadelphia Freedom), Hard to Imagine, Wishlist, Last Exit, Go, Leaving Here, Once, Elderly Womanenc 2: Porchnotes: The ‘Daughter’ improv is Mudhoney’s ‘Suck You Dry and’ Ed mentions he is glad to do ‘WMA’ because one of his favorite episodes of “Cops” happened in Philadelphia. After ‘Immortality,’ Ed says, “Mike McCready! Matt Cameron!” then he blows his nose and says, “Snot!” [Apparently, Ed's been a little sick.] Before they play ‘HtI,’ Ed comes out and says, “Fuck, it’s been years. We’ll play anything you want,” and they bust into a few chords of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ (with Ed asking, “Isn’t that what caused the Civil War?”) and then a snippet of ‘Philadelphia Freedom’ by Elton John! ‘Leaving Here’ is dedicated it to a girl Ed met while walking around in his sports coat earlier. He said she knew what it was about and the rest of the crowd should just enjoy the song. After ‘Once,’ Ed says, “Sometimes it’s fun to have the big speakers and the stage, because it can be fun to tell people to fuck off. But you guys don’t deserve that, because you guys have been the best crowd that Iggy Pop’s had – not in his life, and thanks for being polite to Mudhoney, they came all the way out from Seattle.” [The crowd gave Iggy a standing ovation at the end of his set, a sensational performance of Chuck Berry's 'Johnny B. Goode.'] No ‘DTE’ tonight; ‘Elderly Woman’ is dedicated to “all the people that have a long way to drive to get back home after the show.” Ed goes into a long tirade about the fucked up state of the world, how bad the news is, about all the bombings that’ve been going on and says the Liberty Bell is going to be the next terrorist bomb attack, leading to: “… the last thing I’m gonna say is 1, 2, 3, 4″ and ‘Porch’ is next. ‘Porch’ lyrics are modified to, “I just need to say …”poster

08/29/98 – Blockbuster Music Entertainment Centre: Camden, NJ [120m]attendance: 25,000support act: Mudhoney, Iggy Popsoundcheck: no soundcheck todayset: Long Road, Corduroy, Brain of J, Red Mosquito, In Hiding, Animal, Given to Fly, Lukin, Wishlist, MFC, Not for You, Alive, Nothingman, State of Love and Trust, Present Tense, Hail Hail, Jeremy, Do the Evolutionenc 1: Dissident, Even Flow, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Push Me Pull Me, Rearviewmirrorenc 2: Last Kiss, Rockin’ in the Free Worldnotes: Ed’s voice seems to be much better tonight. After ‘GTF,’ he says, “Hello, we’re band number three; we’re very fond of bands one and two; but we’ve never written a song about band number two, but we did at least about a member of band number one,” and they launch into ‘Lukin’. During ‘SoL&T,’ Mike takes his shirt off. For ‘Present Tense,’ Ed comments that he’s been thinking about it lately, it’s kind of weird in the present tense, there’s a lot of crazy crap going on, but we’re gonna play it anyway. In ‘Hail Hail,’ Ed changes the words to, “You can only be as good as I’ll let you …” ‘DTE’ is totally mangled (rather hilariously); instead of going into “I’m a thief, I’m a liar,” Ed starts the whole thing over again from the first verse, and it tends to disintegrate again, but they salvage it in the end. ‘Save it for Later’ is extremely extended, and goes straight into the first playing (other than a tag) of ‘Push Me Pull Me’! At the end, he says, “Fuck, I forget the rest …” and yep, he forgets the lyrics at the very end. Stone applauds Jeff and Ed at the end. Ed refers to a show PJ played at JC Dobbs, a local Philly club [7/12/91]: “It sure has been a nice couple of nights, are we in Philly or Jersey – where the fuck are we?! Philadelphia? (and everyone goes nuts) This is an old song, it was written before we played at Dobbs (crowd cheers). There were only 30 or so people there, so quit lying!” and then they play ‘Better Man.’ ‘RITFW’: “There’s a thousand points of light for the east coast man, there’s a kinder, gentler security man’s hand.” Mike finishes the song rolling around on his back, putting his guitar down and shaking it wildly.poster

08/31/98 – Hardee’s Walnut Creek Amphitheatre: Raleigh, NC [117m]attendance: 18,445support act: Mudhoneysoundcheck: Soldier of Love, Driven to Tears, Hard to Imagine, No Way (several times), Mankind, In My Tree (1/2 without vocals)set: Sometimes, Corduroy, Animal, Given to Fly, Tremor Christ, Hail Hail, Not for You, Habit, Wishlist, Even Flow, Daughter/(Beginning to See the Light), Footsteps, Immortality, Brain of J, Faithfull, Go, Jeremy, Aliveenc 1: Do the Evolution, State of Love and Trust, Black, Elderly Woman, Better Manenc 2: Soldier of Lovenotes: Mike and Ed are in particularly great spirits. ‘Corduroy’ features a great Townshend leap by Ed with his white Gibson SG. The ‘Wishlist’ lyrics include “I wish friends would always be friends until the bitter end.” Ed notes, “We’ve been tryin’ to feel y’all out … we think you can handle this,” introducing ‘Footsteps.’ During ‘Brain of J,’ a someone in the third row passes out and while everyone is helping her, Ed is watching throughout the whole song (not dancing) to make sure she is OK. He even throws one of his water bottles out to one of her friends for her and comments, “”We’ve got people passing out up here … I can only imagine what its like in the back” (big roar from back of the lawn). ‘Faithfull’ is dedicated to the people in the back. Mike tears the stage up on ‘Go,’ playing the entire solo for about a minute with the guitar behind his head and seems to get stuck near the edge of the stage and a bed of speakers, prompting Stone to ask if he had gotten stuck! Upon returning for the first encore (Ed sporting a ‘blonde era’ Lou Reed shirt), the crowd cheers wildly and Ed says, “Aww, you probably say that to all the bands. You’re probably the same assholes that were cheering Dave Matthews here last night!” During ‘State’, Mike starts doing laps around the stage and Ed turns his mic to follow him. On his second lap Ed nails him with a shoulder and almost knocks him down and changes the lyrics to refer to Mike (“help him from himself”). Ed tells a humorous tale about the Mudhoney show the previous night in Chapel Hill, where he bought a beer for some guys standing by him and heard one of them say “I’m under” to which he said “Don’t worry, man, I got you covered.” He thought the guys were short on cash but they were saying they were underage. The two guys got dragged out of the show halfway through because some “celebrity asshole” (Ed calls himself that) got them in trouble. Ed calls them “poor fuckers” then says he made it up to them and they had backstage passes and definitely had beers in their hands right now! ‘Better Man’ is dedicated to Michael Jordan, with Ed just referencing someone in a light blue jersey, with number 23. Before the last encore, Ed looks at the crowd and mouths “fucking awesome.” Once again, Ed brings a fan onstage for the final encore and has him hold his song book while he sings ‘Soldier of Love.’poster

09/1/98 – Lakewood Amphitheater: Atlanta, GA [120m]attendance: 19,000support act: Mudhoneysoundcheck: Lowlight, No Way, Parting Ways, Dead Man (2X with drums), Blood (slower version), I Got Shitset: Hail Hail, Animal, Given to Fly, Do the Evolution, Dissident, Corduroy, I Got Shit, Wishlist, Even Flow, In Hiding, Last Exit, (Yeastie Girls song), Off He Goes, MFC, Better Man, Brain of J, Aliveenc 1: Go, No Way, Rearviewmirror, Daughter/(Talk About the Passion)/(All Those Yesterdays)/(The Wrong Child), Black, Porchenc 2: Yellow Ledbetternotes: Ed says the Yeastie Girls are a feminist punk band from San Francisco and he does a rap-style improv with a drum beat provided by Matt: “We’re the Yeastie Girls, with yeastie power, We don’t shave and we don’t shower …” Ed leads into ‘Off He Goes’ saying this is what’s it’s like to be his best friend. They play ‘No Way’ thanks to the guys down front with a sign and Ed jokingly says he had seen the “No Way” sign at every show and “I don’t want to have to see that fucking sign again” (laughter) and they play it. (He also saw a “Lowlight” sign and responded with a confident “no.”) Before ‘RVM,’ Ed says that he remembers playing it at the Fox Theatre the last time they were in Atlanta and that he thought it was on Easter and that “… was when I believed in God, that was a long time ago.” Ed asks if anyone is coming tomorrow night to see The Beasties and he says he’s going. ‘Talk About The Passion’ and ‘The Wrong Child’ are R.E.M. songs (R.E.M. being from neighboring Athens, GA). Ed is very crowd-friendly and comes into the crowd during ‘Porch.’ The security guard seemed less than thrilled to go after him. [A shirt is tossed onstage reading "stop skateboard harrassment" and Ed says, "Oh, you have that down here, too!" following with, "Well, I think we need to stop concert harrassment," leading to more comments about security being too tight the previous night (NC) and tonight.] He says we were well behaved and their tactics weren’t necessary. Stone screws up the beginning of ‘Black’ and Ed jokes that it was the first time they’d ever played it. Mike’s ‘Black’ solo is wonderful. During ‘Yellow Ledbetter,’ Ed changes the lyrics to “… actually, I’d like to stay.”poster

09/03/98 – Birmingham-Jefferson Coliseum: Birmingham, AL [117m]attendance: 19,000support act: Mudhoneysoundcheck: Simple Man (Lynyrd Skynrd song; Mike only), Yellow Ledbetter jamsset: Release, Hail Hail, Animal, Given to Fly, (Dueling Banjos), Corduroy, Immortality, Wishlist, Go, Daughter/(Androgynous Mind)/(Stuff and Nonsense), Footsteps, Even Flow, Jeremy, Faithfull, Brain of J, Better Man, Rearviewmirror, Porchenc: Elderly Woman, Leatherman, Do the Evolution, Alive, Black, Baba O’Rileynotes: During ‘Hail Hail,’ Jeff has his eyes closed the whole time, grooving. Mike hits his stride during ‘Corduroy.’ ‘Immortality’ lasts forever with the strobe light; on ‘Go’ – Ed can DANCE! Ed sings “I wish I could tell my friends how much I really care” during ‘Wishlist.’ In ‘Daughter’ he starts howling and barking before going into the tag. “We wrote this this morning” before ‘Even Flow’. Ed changes the lyrics to “I gather speed from me fucking with you” during ‘RVM,’ with the strobe lights crazy, Ed dancing with his arms going in a million directions, Mike putting the guitar behind his head, Ed breaking the mic stand. The start of ‘Porch’ is botched; Ed quits singing until Stone catches the rhythm. Ed jumps into the crowd during Mike’s solo during ‘Porch,’ tripping over one of the monitors climbing back onto the stage. At the beginning of the encore, Ed comes out, pumped and jumps over the amp beside Matt’s drum kit. With no music and the crowd screaming, he does a little step like 1,2 cha cha cha, looks at the crowd and says, “What am I doing?” and starts laughing, repeating “What the fuck am I doing?” ! During ‘Alive,’ Jeff plays to Stone, Mike’s on fire, Ed runs all the way around the stage. Ed gets a lot of feedback through his mic during ‘Black’ (the third time it had happened) and gets mad, going over to the soundboard and shoves his finger in the air, yelling … later and smiling at him. The band all has on big silver sunglasses (and really big smiles) during ‘Baba O’Riley.’ A fan makes it onto the stage from behind and is dragged down by several rough security staffers after nearly pulling down one of the candles. Ed ends it with a huge Daltrey mic-swing, finally tossing his mic over the lighting rig and leaving it hanging there as the band leaves the stage.poster

09/04/98 – Bi-Lo Center: Greenville, SC [116m]attendance: 14,027support act: Mudhoneysoundcheck: ?, Red Mosquito, ?, Leathermanset: Oceans, Do the Evolution, Animal, Given to Fly, Corduroy, I Got Shit, In Hiding, Jeremy, Even Flow, Nothingman, Not for You, Rearviewmirror, Wishlist, Brain of J, All Those Yesterdays, Porchenc 1: Go, Hail Hail, Daughter/(Noise of Carpet)/(WMA), Mankind, Elderly Woman, Fuckin’ Upenc 2: Indifferencenotes: ‘Oceans’ is a beautiful opener, with a film on the backdrop showing water ripples and Ed includes the “oh, Beth” line. During ‘In Hiding,’ Matt hits the drums hard at the “cracks along the wall” part … everyone stops and then Matt kicks back in (a la John Bonham) doing the quick snare, tom, floor tom, bass drum thing … and the song starts back up. After ‘Even Flow,’ Ed comments on how this was the second show held in this venue, with Janet Jackson being first, and that they’re gonna “burn up the stage” and “cleanse the place.” Stone has two BIG solos during ‘Not for You.’ ‘RVM’ features a fast start and never slows down–spectacular! Ed turns and sings to those seated behind the stage during ‘All Those Yesterdays.’ Matt maintains a strong tribal beat throughout ‘Porch,’ and Ed takes a small mirror, walking along the front of the crowd, showing people their our reflections. When he returns to the mic, he tries to reflect someone’s laser pen that had been up on stage all night. Stone is hilarious before singing ‘Mankind’ saying, “I have to twist everyone’s arm … I never ever get to sing what I want.” Ed sings backup and plays tambourine, breaking the head, putting it over his head and then tossing it to the crowd. Mike does his finger tapping solo. Ed makes a quip about how Stone had been “begging to play a song.” He says something about how the last time they were in South Carolina, they saw a lot of small towns and they were glad Matt “got to see you,” leading to ‘Elderly Woman.’ During ‘Fuckin’ Up,’ Mike goes on top of a speaker stack and lies on them on top of his guitar after looking like he might go into the crowd for a moment! Stuff is thrown on the stage all; toward the start, Ed makes a great catch of a shirt and when another one is tossed up shortly after, he says, “Okay, that’s enough. Only one catch a night.” ‘Indifference hasn’t been played since the Australia shows. ‘MFC,’ ‘Black’ and ‘Trouble’ are on the setlist but not played. Many different solos and breakdowns in tonight’s songs. Solid show, good crowd but the GA on the floor was rough.poster

09/06/98 – Thompson-Boling Arena: Knoxville, TN [114m]attendance: 24,535support act: Mudhoneysoundcheck: Leaving Here, Whipping, Present Tenseset: Long Road, Corduroy, Brain of J, Given to Fly, Animal, Red Mosquito, Jeremy, Whipping, Wishlist, Lukin, Even Flow, Habit, MFC, Present Tense, Daughter/(My Heart Will Go On)/(Monkey Gone to Heaven), Better Man, Aliveenc 1: Go, RVM, Do the Evolution, Hard to Imagine, Black, Last Kissenc 2: Leaving Herenotes: After ‘Brain of J,’ Ed steps up and says, “I hate to say it, but you guys are kinda quiet,” but after the first encore he says, “I knew you guys would liven up.” He messes up the second verse in ‘Even Flow,’ forgets it completely and gets the next one right (with the crowd helping) and looks out and says, “Got that fucker right, didn’t I?” The ‘Habit’ line is along the lines of “speaking as a man who loves everyone regardless of race, creed, color or sexual preference.” After ‘MFC,’ Ed takes a swig of beer and a woman yells, “Hey, Ed! Gimme some of that beer,” prompting him to respond: “What? All I heard was ‘Hey, Ed. Gimme some of that either beer, pick or your dick’ … and I got lots of beer, lots of picks and only one dick … and I ain’t wasting it on a boring ass place like Knoxville.” After the next song, Ed singles her out and gives her his pick. Ed talks about how there isn’t much to do in Knoxville on a Saturday night. He says he watched SNL and masturbated. ‘My Heart Will Go On’ is the Celine Dion (Titanic theme) song (“near, far, wherever you are …) !!! During ‘Alive,’ Ed notices a fan a Cubs jersey and mouths “Cubbie fan?” The dude says “yeah” and Ed mouths “Atta boy.” During ‘RVM,’ Stone is dazed-looking during the jam, and Ed steps up and stares at his hands as he plays. Stone startles, noticing Ed and they both die laughing and Ed mouths “Rock on, son.” ‘Hard to Imagine’ is introduces as as song that probably “only 1 or 2 or 10 or 20″ people in the audience has heard before. Mike has difficulty with his typically long solo during ‘Black,’ so he cuts it short, looking frustrated. Ed introduces ‘Last Kiss’ by saying he used to think ‘Black’ was the saddest song he had ever heard until he heard ‘Last Kiss.’ Thompson-Boiling Arena is the home of the Univ. of TN basketball champions and Ed picks up on this, noting that “women kick ass in this building,” leading to ‘Leaving Here.’ All night PJ is in great spirits, with Ed fucking around with the crowd up front … lots of picks tossed out and spit flying. Mike seemed to have trouble with his sound as he cuts his solos down quite a bit, but still plays in fine form. Ed and Stone kept breaking guitar strings.setlist scanposter

09/07/98 – GTE Virginia Beach Amphitheater: Virginia Beach, VA [116m]support act: Mudhoneyset: Animal, Hail Hail, Given to Fly, Corduroy, I Got Shit, Daughter, Brain of J, Rats, Jeremy, Even Flow, Improv/MFC, Wishlist, Leatherman, Off He Goes, RVM, Black, Do the Evolutionenc: Immortality, Better Man/(Save it for Later), No Way, Alive, Sonic Reducer, Porchnotes: A near full moon tonight and an outdoor venue. Before ‘Given to Fly,’ Ed tells the crowd to check it out and he notes, “It’s nice to be here … beautiful moon … nice and hot … a really good night for singing.” There isn’t a ‘Daughter’ tag–Ed sings “shades go down … the moon is round … shades go down.” ‘Rats’ is a BIG surprise, introduced as the first time played with Matt C., [we haven't heard this since Buffalo '96] off the second album, doesn’t get played much and “if I screw up the words, fuck you … at least we’re giving it a try.” The improv leading to ‘MFC’ is much like the improv leading to ‘Habit’ at many of the Australian shows earlier this year. Later Ed says, “Is there a difference between a dreamer and someone who wishes for something? I think there is. I still haven’t figured out which I am,” leading to ‘Wishlist.’ Ed chokes on some of the ‘Leatherman’ lyrics so he sings “la, la” for a whole verse and makes fun of himself. During ‘RVM,’ the band is silouetted and different colors are cycled through on the backdrop, making a nice effect. Mike absolutely rules ‘Black’ every night. The stage is very wide at Virginia Beach and he runs all over it. Ed makes a crack about how they just found out there’s a curfew but they’ll play right up to it and then says that they also just learned that Stone’s zipper was down during the first set but “no one got hurt.” ‘Porch’ is outstanding with a shirtless Mike playing the flying V, fast breakdown with the tribal drums and Ed has the hand mirror out again. Other highlights: rocking ‘Alive’ and ‘Sonic Reducer;’ long ‘Save it for Later’ tag. Band was great; crowd was drunk.poster

09/08/98 – Continental Arena: East Rutherford, NJ [114m]support act: Ben Harperset: Oceans, Hail Hail, Animal, Given to Fly, Daughter/(Jersey Girl)/(Androgynous Mind), Corduroy, MFC, Wishlist, Even Flow, Faithfull, State of Love and Trust, Brain of J, Nothingman, Leatherman, Better Man, Black, Do the Evolutionenc 1: Go, Immortality, Elderly Woman, Rearviewmirror, Alive, Porchenc 2: Yellow Ledbetternotes: After ‘Daughter,’ Eric brings out a ping pong paddle, placing it on Ed’s amp and Jeff tosses a guitar pick and Ed hits it into the crowd … in honor of Mark McGwire breaking the home run record (it happened while they were performing ‘Daughter’). ‘Wishlist’ lyrics are modified to, “I wish I was as fortunate as New Jersey” and “I wish I was the verb to trust and never let me down.” ‘SoL&T’ is introduced as “a song about being faithful.” After ‘Better Man’: “This is the last song of the trilogy.” When the band returns for the encore, hundreds of “BREATH” signs are held up by the crowd and the band laughs their asses off! Ed says, “That’s pretty impressive, but it’s not gonna do you a damn bit of good.” Later (in reference to ‘Elderly Woman’), he says, “This song has the word ‘breath’ in it if it helps at all.” ! During ‘Porch,’ Ed walks along the side of the stage and drops down into the crowd. When they return for the second encore, Ed and Stone are talking and talking, as if they are deciding on a song, and Mike begins ‘Yellow Ledbetter,’ pretty much making the decision.poster

09/10/98 – Madison Square Garden: New York, NY [114m]support act: Ben Harperset: Long Road, Corduroy, Brain of J, Last Exit, Given to Fly, Animal, Dissident, Jeremy, Daughter/(Mother), Even Flow, In Hiding, I Got Shit, Better Man, Do the Evolution, All Those Yesterdays, Aliveenc 1: Wishlist, RVM, Hail Hail, Black, Elderly Woman, Fuckin’ Upenc 2: Soldier of Lovenotes: Many, many equipment problems tonight. Mike has to change guitars THREE times during ‘Given to Fly’ … but his solos are just outstanding. Stone screws up the solo in ‘All Those Yesterdays,’ leading to Ed’s comment: “Come to Madison Square Garden; fuck the song up … John Lennon would be proud.” When PJ returns for the encore, fake security guards come out with tons of archive boxes and Ed jokes about Ken Starr wanting show passes and that they traded passes for the records … a very, very long speech about how we have no business knowing, etc. Ed introduces the second encore as a “song about how we feel” and Mike plays the very start of ‘Yellow Ledbetter’ and stops with Ed saying “I’m sorry, I fucked up,” and they play ‘Soldier of Love’ instead. [Breath sign campaign update: the signs were noticed as they extended through all levels of MSG. Ed said something along the lines of it being the best organization he'd seen outside of New Jersey; and that while they'd had a day off yesterday, someone had slipped him some Viagra and he was busy doing "something else six times."]poster

09/11/98 – Madison Square Garden: New York, NY [130m]support act: Ben Harperset: Release, Hail Hail, Animal, Even Flow, Given to Fly, Corduroy, MFC, Habit, Faithfull, Daughter/(Beginning to See the Light)/(WMA), Wishlist, Nothingman, Immortality, RVM, Brain of J, Black, Do the Evolutionenc 1: Breath, State of Love and Trust, Off He Goes, Leatherman, Better Man/(Save it for Later), Mankind, Baba O’Rileyenc 2: Indifference (with Ben Harper), Alivenotes: Returning for the encore and yet another sea of “Breath” signs on ever single level of the Garden, Ed tells the crowd they are never satisfied:

“You fucking cocksuckers. [shakes head] You fucking bitch! You know, we come up here as a collective band and we give and we give and you just fucking want more … and you know what? You deserve it. This is like some kind of organized religion here; I’ve never seen anything like it. Do you see what’s happening? … the third night in a row, right? [applause] Well, fuck you. We’re gonna play it!”

leading to the first playing of ‘Breath’ since 1994!!! woo hoo!!! With a brief announcement (“same record, different track”), they follow with ‘SoL&T.’ ‘Mankind’ is introduced by Stone saying, “Well, since we’re playing every song in the catalog…” ‘Baba’ is intro’d as being a response to “corporate rock bands who make the mistake of trying to cover a real rock song.” ‘Indifference’ is played with an ecstatic Ben Harper (who has been including ‘Indifference’ at some of his shows). During ‘Alive,’ Ed makes four attempts to toss his microphone over the vocal monitor rig above his head, and finally gets it over, but instead of just standing there, he proceeds to CLIMB UP THE MIC CORD and hang there for the rest of the song. Possibly the best show the band has ever played in their life. Period. (And they knew it, too.)poster

09/13/98 – Meadows Music Theater: Hartford, CT [100m]support act: Ben Harpercapacity: 35,000 (although capacity is 30,000)set: Corduroy, Animal, Hail Hail, Given to Fly, I Got Shit, Go, Dissident, Tremor Christ, Daughter, Jeremy, Even Flow, Faithfull, MFC, Spin the Black Circle, Wishlist, Do the Evolutionenc: Brain of J, Breath, RVM, Better Man, Alive, Porchnotes: The security staff at this venue are horrible and pepperspray is smelled during the show. Ed messes up the ‘Even Flow’ lyrics in the exact same place for the fourth straight performance, asking the crowd for the lyrics. ‘Faithfull’ intro: “The next song is about belief. Don’t get a tattoo of a guy’s face unless he’s dead so he can’t fuck up. I was really proud of that Clinton tattoo … Everyone raise your middle finger and yell, ‘Get on with it!.’” At the start of the encore, many people in the crowd raise “thank you” signs (the thank you for PJ playing ‘Breath the previous night) and Ed says, “Ah, so you all were in New York?” and makes a joke about how all of the Connecticut people must be in the back of the venue. ‘Breath’ is introduced as “one we haven’t played in a while but it sounded pretty good last night” and they seem to really enjoy playing it. During, ‘Alive,’ the show takes a dramatic turn when Ed notices asshole security fucking with someone in the crowd (who is holding up a flashlight?) and Ed grabs Eric Johnson’s flashlight and puts it on the security staff, displeased. He tells everyone to go dance in the aisles, and everyone rushes forward. There is a crush toward the front that continues through ‘Porch.’poster

09/15/98 – Great Woods: Mansfield, MA [109m]support act: Ben Harperset: Sometimes, Corduroy, Hail Hail, Animal, Given to Fly, Daughter, Immortality, Rearviewmirror, (Crazy Mary), Wishlist, Jeremy, Even Flow, Nothingman, Brain of J, In Hiding, Aliveenc 1: Elderly Woman, Not for You, Last Exit, Do the Evolution, Black, Fuckin’ Upenc 2: Yellow Ledbetternotes: Ed comes out looking really happy. ‘Wishlist’ has the “radio song” last verse; during ‘In Hiding’ instead of singing “cracks along the wall” he fucks up and sings “I had a bong” (lol!). During ‘Alive,’ Ed takes Mike out on the front of the stage, and Mike falls to the ground, rolling around and playing. During ‘Not For You,’ Ed drapes himself over the monitors and plays lying on his back. For the encore, he comes out and says, “What an unbelievably shitty Seattle day it’s been!” (it had rained earlier in the day). “Actually, there’s a couple of things in common between Boston and Seattle: you got history and old buildings, and we got Jimi Hendrix. So, fuck you … and we got Mike McCready, and also, via San Diego, we got Matt Cameron.” and then gives Matt’s side project, Wellwater Conspiracy, a big plug.poster

09/16/98 – Great Woods: Mansfield, MA [125m]support act: Ben Harperset: Throw Your Arms Around Me (Ed solo before Ben Harper); Release, Brain of J, Hail Hail, Given to Fly, Dissident, MFC, Corduroy, Wishlist, Even Flow, Faithfull, Spin the Black Circle, I Got Shit, Improv/Habit, Off He Goes, Present Tense, Black, Do the Evolution, Porchenc 1: Go, State of Love and Trust, Better Man/(Save It for Later), Rearviewmirror, Aliveenc 2: Last Kissnotes: An amazing show with Ed’s emotions all over the place. Ed takes the stage prior to Ben Harper’s set, plays the riff to ‘Wishlist’ saying, “I wish I was Ben Harper” before playing ‘Throw Your Arms Around Me.’ Opening music to PJ’s set is ‘Aye Davanita’ and *not* ‘The Color Red!’ ‘GTF’ and Dissident are extremely emotional; it appears as though Ed is crying, and as a result, he flubs a few words. Before ‘MFC’ he says he had to compose himself before going on. Before ‘Even Flow,’ he comments, “It’s take no prisoners time;” he gets the words right and laughs about it. The ‘Habit’ saying is “Speaking as a someone who pahked the cah at the Gahden,” (a reference to the Boston Garden) delivered with an exaggerated Boston accent. Before “Present Tense,’ Ed says he was reading this thing in the hotel room, and he wanted to see if it said anything about the concert coming up, and he pretends like he’s reading this pamphlet, and says: “As yet another summer of drunken musical orgies comes to a close at the Great Woods Amphitheatre … Pearl Jam and Ben Harper: sold out, SUCKER …” During ‘Porch’ Ed comes into the crowd, telling people not to pull on him. Right before ‘Go’ he says, “It’s coming to a close … if this was my summer, this is what I’d be thinking.” Some idiot is throwing quarters at Ed and he launches into a huge tirade (rightfully so) and then catches himself (“Ahh, that felt good.”) ‘Last Kiss’ is started and stopped, with Ed noting, “They’ve got it now … same drums though.” The show is closed with, “Have a nice millenium; until next time.” This is one of the finest shows of 1998, with excellent versions of songs and the band in great spirits. As is often typical, the second show at the same venue is the best!poster

09/18/98 – Merriweather Post Pavilion: Columbia, MD [123m]support act: Ben Harperset: Hail Hail, Animal, Given to Fly, Daughter/(I Believe in Miracles)/(WMA), Corduroy, Wishlist, Immortality, State of Love and Trust, Even Flow, Footsteps, Mankind, Alive, Better Man, Leatherman, Jeremy, Do the Evolutionenc 1: Elderly Woman, Brain of J, Improv/MFC, (Crazy Mary)/Rearviewmirror, Black, Porchenc 2: Last Kiss, Yellow Ledbetternotes: ‘Aye Davanita’ is once again the intro music. Images are projected onto the backdrop again during various songs: ‘Animal’ = stars; ‘GTF’ = white clouds on blue sky; ‘Footsteps’ = water ripples. Mr. Pickles’ face is now painted green and red. In ‘Wishlist,’ Ed sings, “I wish I was the president and I could change my ways.” He notices a sign in the front row and says, “You guys are expecting to have desert first without the having the main course; it’ll ruin your appetite.” In “Immortality” Ed flubs a lyric, Mike and Matt’s solos are excellent. Before ‘SOLAT,’ Ed is reaching into the crowd; Mike and Jeff are playing off each other and Ed is singing to Mike; at one point, Ed checks his reflection in a hand mirror that’s on his amp. (???) ‘Even Flow,’ once again, Ed flubs the lyrics in THE SAME SPOT (bring that man a cue card) and Stoney is dancing around in circles. Ed reaches for his tea during Mike’s solo and loses his balance, falling backwards, laughing and spilling tea everywhere. Stone loses his glasses before ‘Footsteps’; Mike does a bluesy solo. Before ‘Mankind,’ Stone says, “We’re gonna play mine tonight, see if you know it.” During ‘Alive’ Ed nearly falls right into Matt’s drum kit. The ‘Leatherman’ lyrics are substituted halfway through with “la la la” again. ‘Elderly Woman’ is introduced with, “This is for the residents of Chevy Chase, we can’t figure out who was named after what.” The improv before ‘MFC’ is just Ed and Matt together with some lyrics along the lines of, “it’s so hard to alone, but sometimes you just gotta go … it’ll take 10 minutes or so” (sounding similar to the ‘Hold On’ improv from the 4/11/94 Boston show). Mike plays behind his head during ‘Porch’; Ed picks up the hand mirror and starts catching the lights and reflecting it back on the crowd; at the end, he flips it over, looks at his reflection, acts scared, and drops the mirror! ‘Last Kiss’ is introduced with a banner from a fan. After ‘Last Kiss,’ Ed introduces Matt and plugs Wellwater Conspiracy again; then he says, “We’re playing a benefit tomorrow. Hovercraft is opening, my wife’s in the band. I’m real excited I get to see her, we’ve been on the road so long; this is Jeff, this is Stone, and they’ve been together as long as my wife and I,” and Jeff and Stone get really red and hug each other.poster

09/19/98 – Constitution Hall: Washington, DC (Voters for Choice benefit) [125m]support act: Hovercraftcapacity: 3,500soundcheck: Act of Love, Push Me Pull Me (4X), Last Kiss (2X), Soldier of Love (Ed notebook in hand reading the lyrics), MFC, Leaving Here (they absolutely nailed it!)set: I Am a Patriot (before Hovercraft); Long Road, Act of Love, Hail Hail, Dissident, Given to Fly, Corduroy, Wishlist, Not for You, All Those Yesterdays, Daughter/(Roc kin’ in the Free World)/(WMA), Whipping, Immortality, Push Me Pull Me, Faithfull, Present Tense, Rearviewmirror, Black, Do the Evolutionenc 1: I Got Shit, Better Man, Alive, Soldier of Loveenc 2: Yellow Ledbetternotes: Ed says, “Hi, it feels like we’re in the White House … we haven’t played a place with carpet in a while; I think this place is the last bastion of sanity in town. Music is the choice; we’re here tonight, you’re gonna hear words and entertainment, not in any particular order; Hovercraft’s gonna come out (applause … someone shouts ‘Ed for President’) … It’s not gonna happen, unless you agree to release the tapes that say, ‘Ed was sitting in his hotel room smoking pot out of a bong (applause)” and he goes into ‘I Am a Patriot.’ Several speakers follow from Voters For Choice, and then Gloria Steinem speaks: “I pledge to you that I will go to jail before I tell Ken Starr anything that goes on here tonight … These guys live their beliefs; they’re smart and good-hearted; they use their heads and their minds, they started out, they had tough times, but they weren’t broken by them, and it’s rare that any other group that they’ve remained themselves with their success … they look after their true selves and your true selves” and then she introduces the band, making mistakes on Stone and Mike’s names. =) The band comes out and Ed says, “You know why we’re here; we’ll talk later.” During ‘Not for You,’ Ed comments: “We want to dedicate this next set of lines to the CC” before the “all that’s sacred line” (referring to the Christian Coalition, who are meeting in DC this week). Ed’s delivery during ‘All Those Yesterdays’ is particularly notable and distinct. ‘Push Me Pull Me’ is a little rough, and Ed shrugs at the end, and then says, “This one we’ll do better …” leading to ‘Faithfull.’ Somebody passes up a big sign, and he reads it: “Dear PJ: word up, dogs … you guys fucking kick it. Look us up when you’re back in DC, we’re in the book; Bill, Hillary and Chelsea.” (That was not what the sign really said =)). And then in a Clinton voice, Ed says, “He just needs to go on TV and say, ‘Shoot, it’s no big deal’…but I guess he already did that a couple of weeks ago.” Someone shouts “I love you Eddie,” and he replies, “Watch it, keep it consensual … this isn’t about issues.” Then someone yells, “I love PJ” and Ed says, “Well, so do I … this just is bipartisan politics in motion, that’s what’s ruining the country, ruining the office of the President … people are playing king of the hill while there’s people with lives, families, debts and injury who really need help,” before starting ‘Present Tense.’ Mike’s solo during ‘Black’ is right on, and Ed applauds him, and notes him when the song is over. “The last time we played here was with L7 and Young Neil … he gave me a song writing lesson at a half-price rate; this is what I came up with … on my final, he gave me a B+ I think” leading to ‘I Got Shit.’ Mike sings with Ed during ‘Better Man’ during the “she dreams in color” line! Ed has a bunch of VFC condoms inside his tambourine and starts handing them out toward the end of ‘Alive.’ Ed thanks the VFC people, “They’re not up there to lead any one astray; don’t let the funny business down the street think that voting isn’t worth it. Vote for what you believe.” ‘Soldier of Love’ is dedicated to “people on the other side of the issue.” Gloria comes out with roses before ‘YL,’ and says, “There’s history here tonight; this is the first time Hovercraft has played Voters for Choice; Pearl Jam’s third; Sadie 7 is really Beth Liebling, Ed Vedder is Ed Vedder; these are two artists, married to each other, here tonight, both for this cause, and dedicating their time. I want to thank Stone and Mike for not getting pissed at me for messing up their names. I don’t know if I can get Beth out here .. (the audience chants ‘Beth, Beth’) … this is the crew’s bread and butter, I want to thank them for donating their time tonight.” Then Beth comes out, takes a rose, she and Ed do a little dance; Beth leaves, and Gloria says, “Democracy comes to those who vote,” and the band goes into ‘YL.’t-shirthandbillposter

09/22/98 – Coral Sky Amphitheatre: West Palm Beach, FL [113m]support act: Rancidset: (Interstellar Overdrive)/Corduroy, Brain of J, Hail Hail, Animal, Red Mosquito, Given to Fly, Even Flow, MFC, Improv/Habit, Wishlist, Daughter, Jeremy, In Hiding, Lukin, Rearviewmirror, Immortality, Do the Evolution, Porchenc 1: Last Exit, Leatherman, Better Man, (Angie), State of Love and Trust, Aliveenc 2: Baba O’Rileynotes: Stone is spotted during Rancid’s set from side stage; he appears to know all the lyrics. The lead-in music is ‘Aye Davanita’ again. It is a hot, humid night and Ed jokes about how the humidity is fucking up his hair (he has a serious ‘fro thing going on). The improv leading to ‘Habit’ (sounding much like the 2/20/98 Maui improv musically), includes the lyrics “dropped three times.” Instead of a “speaking as …” line, Ed plays a slow, distinctive guitar riff. Before ‘In Hiding,’ he comments how the next song has a chorus he’ll need help with from the crowd and how he has trouble remembering … it “must be that pot I smoked last night.” During the ‘RVM’ solo, Ed strikes a pose with one arm to the right while he is looking left, and he’s totally still, not moving, but his sweat is pouring down. More effects on the backdrop: clouds on ‘GTF;’ water on ‘Immortality;’ lightning on ‘Better Man.’ During the ‘Porch’ jam, Ed starts singing “last dance … last chance.” (Donna Summer anyone?) The ‘Angie’ snippet is a surprise, seeming as if the intent is to play the entire song but they abandon it after Mike and Ed can’t quite get it together after the first few notes. Ed tosses the microphone above the scaffolding during ‘Alive’ (he doesn’t climb the cord), and it isn’t retrieved but remains looped into the final encore. Before ‘Baba,’ Ed thanks Rancid and challenges them to play a Who song. Rather than tossing the tambourine into the crowd during ‘Baba,’ he throws it frisbee-style at the backdrop, and he joins in on guitar for a rousing ending. A rocking show with the band having fun, despite the heat. (On the setlist but not played: ‘Black,’ ‘Go’ and ‘Nothingman.’)

09/23/98 – Coral Sky Amphitheatre: West Palm Beach, FL [133m]support act: Rancidset: Release, Hail Hail, Animal, Spin the Black Circle, Given to Fly, Corduroy, Rearviewmirror, Wishlist, Faithfull, Even Flow, Daughter/(Time Bomb)/(WMA), Improv (Life), Whipping, Present Tense, Not For You, Brain of J, Black, Aliveenc 1: Breath, Elderly Woman, I Got Shit, Do the Evolution, Rats, Smile, Leaving Hereenc 2: Yellow Ledbetternotes: Mike is apparently cross-dressing again, wearing a feathery black stole around his neck briefly at the start and end of the show. He also sports a tight, black (spandex?) shirt with a silver bead design (spelling out “Rolling Stones”) in the front with a low circular neckline. Ed welcomes everyone to the last night of the tour and says, “… besides the hurricane’s gonna kill us all so let’s go out with a bang.” ‘Wishlist’ lyrics are modified to: “I wish, I wish, I wish, I wish … sometimes it works out.” The ‘Daughter’ tags are Rancid’s ‘Time Bomb,’ followed by ‘WMA,’ with the lyrics altered to “… big hand slapped a white male Floridian.” After ‘Daughter’, Lars Fredriksen from Rancid comes onstage, hands Ed his strat, towels off his face, puts a cigarette in his mouth and lights it, shines his shoes, hugs him and tosses the towel to the crowd. The improv is actually named: Ed says, “OK, we’re gonna call that song ‘Life’.” During the encore break, the crew pulls out a ping pong table and sets it up while the ‘Star Wars’ theme plays over the loudspeaker. Eric Johnson gets on the mic and announces, “Ladies and gentlemen, we’re going to have the ping pong challenge, and the sponsor is the PJ road crew. There will be two teams, the red team is Jeff Ament and Eddie Vedder; the black team is Stone Gossard and Matt Cameron; refereed by star Mike McCready.” The band begins playing ping pong (with the ‘Star Wars’ theme continuing), a couple of points go by, and Eric says, “This ball’s going a little bit flat. Let’s get another ball here,” and someone up above drops a whole bunch of ping pong balls, dozens, on the table. The band is totally surprised and they start hitting the balls into the crowd for a minute or two. Ed ends it saying, “What the fuck was that? … snowing in Florida?” Then he makes mention of people who have been to a lot of the shows and picks out a few in the crowd, “18 or 20 shows …” and thanks them. Then Ed changes the songs, and he goes into ‘Breath’. “Oh, I just changed songs on them.” Toward the end of ‘Breath’, Ed is tossing ping pong balls at Mike who is batting them into the crowd with his guitar. At the end of ‘Leaving Here,’ Mike smashes his guitar. After ‘Smile,’ Ed says, “This is the only tour we’re gonna stop where we wished we could play some more …”

10/10/98 – Crocodile Cafe: Seattle [39m]supporting: Cheap Trickcapacity: 341soundcheck: Naked Eye (bits), Angie (snippets), Corduroy, Not For You, Spin the Black Circle, Leaving Here, Leatherman (little vocals), I Got Shit, MFCset: MFC, Habit, Corduroy, Immortality, Spin the Black Circle, All Those Yesterdays, Leatherman, Leaving Here, Do The Evolution, Soldier of Lovenotes: The rumor that had all Seattle a-buzz came to fruition tonight, the last night of Cheap Trick’s three night stand. A very rested and relaxed looking PJ (featuring a newly raven-haired Mr. McCready, sporting the MSG I Van Halen shirt) took the tiny Croc stage after a really warm introduction by Rick Nielsen. The set is notable for the fact that 1) no radio hits, and 2) almost all were songs with Eddie on guitar. This has to be the most adventurous setlist in years. ‘Immortality’ is nothing short of tremendous thanks to none other than one Matthew D. Cameron, who OWNS the song, to the point that the Cheap Trick fans in the audience all noted it after the set as a standout (and were asking what record it was on!). Ed’s eyes are closed and he doesn’t start to make eye contact until ‘STBC,’ where he sheds the guitar and breaks out into the trademark Ed shuffle-dance (as best he could in that tiny space – PJ set up IN FRONT of Cheap Trick’s equipment). Mike runs up on top of Rick Nielsen’s guitar platform during the song as well, to much amusement. After the song ends, Ed remarks to the crowd that the previous song was about vinyl – “Remember vinyl? … imagine how different it would be if all Cheap Trick’s records had been [and he outlines a cd sized square with his hands] … ‘Got my Kiss CD’s out’ doesn’t have quite the same ring …” [quoting from Cheap Trick's 'Surrender']. Matt sings backup (along with Stone and Jeff) on a super version of ‘All Those Yesterdays.’ Jeff plays one of Tom Petersson’s 12-string basses on ‘Corduroy’; ‘Leavin’ Here’ is notable in that the solo order was Stone, *Jeff*, Ed, Mike. Mike further adds to it by running and grabbing a handful of Rick Nielsen’s guitar picks and tossing them at the audience (just like Rick does!). ‘Soldier of Love’ is not on the setlist, but is added at the last minute after a hurried conference. Tight, razor-sharp and perfect, while staying within the 40-minute time slot allotted to the opening bands. (Security was very tight, so we have no photos, however, there are some lovely shots in the “photo gallery” section of the Croc’s web site.)

11/06/98 – Karma Club: Boston, MA (Ed only supporting Neil)supporting: Neil Finnsoundcheck: History Never Repeats, Throw Your Arms Around Me, Off He Goes (several times)set: Stuff and Nonsense, World Where You Live, History Never Repeats, Off He Goes, Throw Your Arms Around Menotes: After Dave Dobbyn’s opening set, Neil Finn plays a short solo set, later accompanied by his son, Liam. Eventually, a newly blonde Ed joins Neil and they play ‘Stuff and Nonsense’ (Split Enz song), ‘World Where You Live’ (Crowded House song) and ‘History Never Repeats’ (another Split Enz tune). Ed leaves the stage and Neil’s excellent set continues. Neil calls for his guests to return for the second encore, and Ed comments, “Neil asked me if I wanted to do one of our (PJ’s) songs, but I think it’s more fun to do his. But it’s tough to turn down an opportunity to play music with people like this” (referencing Neil and his very talented son). This lead to a wonderful ‘Off He Goes,’ (Neil playing piano, Liam on electric guitar and Ed on acoustic). Ed’s hand is bandaged and he explains he injured it surfing, his doctor advised him not to play guitar for 6-8 weeks, but he wasn’t listening . They then continue into ‘Throw Your Arms Around Me,’ with Neil and Ed alternating verses. After Ed leaves, Neil says, “The good thing about losing your band and playing solo is that you get to play with a lot of great people” (referring to Ed). (Sadly, a few obnoxious PJ/”Eddie” fans rudely blabbed during Neil’s set and were generally unruly.)

11/24/98 – PJ’s first live album, Live on Two Legs, featuring cuts from various stops on the ’98 tour, is released

12/23/98 – A photo book, featuring band photos by Lance Mercer and Charles Peterson, Place/Date, is published and made available to fan club members

Pearl Jam Concert Chronology

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Two Feet Thick is Pearl Jam website created by fans Kathy Davis, Jessica Letkemann and John Reynolds. Since May 2003, Two Feet Thick has presented original articles on Pearl Jam's music and history, including the Pearl Jam Concert Chronology.